Hikari no Mahoutsukai
by killah-sama
Summary: DISCONTINUED //YGOxHP – Set in HBP// A strange Puzzle falls into Harry's hands, bringing with it four new DADA professors, unfathomable power, and the awakening of the cheery, lilac eyed spirit of the Puzzle: Yuugi Mutou.
1. Bad News

Complete chapter revision began on August 24, 2005.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Their legs were tangled together on the bed, black leather-clad limbs twisting together peacefully. The shorter of the two's back was rested against the headboard of his bed, while his other was on the opposite side, back lolling back over the rather short footboard. (No funny stuff in the bed, sillies! xPPP)

Nineteen-year-old Yuugi held the Puzzle in his hands; slim fingers tracing the Eye of Ra in a fond matter, though his amethysts told a different tale. "Kkwy…" he murmured to himself, watching as the Shadows he could only see radiated from the golden edges of the pyramid. His lightning locks hovered over his downcast eyes, shielding them thoroughly.

"Yes, Aibou?" Atem inquired, perceiving the single word his light had made and thinking he was calling to him.

Yuugi's head snapped up from the Puzzle, darting around the room, looking at anything but his darkness. "Oh…no, not you. It's nothing."

"Oh. Are you sure?"

"Yes. Why do you ask?" Yuugi thought he was hiding his trouble very well compared to how he usually handled his feelings.

"Little light, your eyes. If you wish to hide your emotions from people, you'll have to walk around with your eyes shut for the rest of your life. I can tell something is troubling you. Console in me."

Yuugi's eyes locked with Atem's, and he dropped the Puzzle back onto his torso. "Pharaoh…" he began, only to be promptly interrupted.

"Yes, I have evoked the memories of my past life as a Pharaoh, but I am the same 'Yami' to you, my light. Treat me no differently as you would before I learned of myself."

Yuugi snuggled further into the headboard and sighed. "I suppose so. I guess my head is just…blurred with…things."

Atem arched an eloquent eyebrow. "Things such as…?"

"The meaning of life," Yuugi admitted. "Not mine, though. Yours." Without waiting for a reply, and without even looking up to see the inquiring expression on Atem's face, he continued again. "You've led us in the Shadow Wars (I've just realized this sounds like something from Star Wars…la la la… xPP), dueled all the evil villains, and finally gotten your memory back. You've supposedly done everything you were meant to do. What now? What will you do now?"

Atem's eyes clouded. "I don't-"

_Ring!_

Yuugi's head snapped to the phone on his bedside cabinet, then back to Atem.

"Go on ahead, Aibou. I need to think for a while."

Yuugi was hesitant. "Maybe I shouldn't have brought this up."

Atem shook his head. "It was an inevitable subject, I suppose. Go on and answer the phone. I'll keep to myself, give you some space, and think in the Puzzle."

"Ah…okay."

Atem willed his makeshift, solidified body back into the confines of his Pharaoh-like Puzzle chambers.

_Ring!_

"Moshi moshi, Yuugi Mutou speaking," was the last thing he heard before the door of his Soul Room door banged close.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Shadi was a rather dormant guardian. Fate only gave him tasks to implement and messages to convey every so often. When he was not currently performing his sanctified duties for the pharaoh and his light, dispatched by the gods, he had a relatively still life.

At the moment in mind, Shadi sat atop a primordial pyramid, customary manila robes billowing in the sultry Egyptian atmosphere. His legs were loosely propped up, his elbows resting limply over his knees, and his fingers were intertwined together with the twisting cord of the Sennen Ankh hanging past his palms.

His mind was not in focus, and his indigos, usually devoid of pupils, were even blanker than usual. (I mean, where the hell are his pupils? O-O)

An apparition suddenly materialized before his unfocused eyes. Shadi snapped to the spirit's attention, eyes widening.

The man's ghostly figure before him was the customary bronze, appareled with a pharaoh's headdress, and slanted, heavily kohl-lined eyes accentuated his Egyptian image. A cloak of pure golden silks adorned his shoulders, draping over a fit chest and naval, and he wore leggings the color of bullion. Golden sandals shielded his feet from the billowing sand of Egyptian deserts and bazaar roads, and he carried a staff. The staff in name was a fantastic thing. It had a smooth mahogany scepter, beaded with tiny amethysts, rubies, topazes, and other rare faceted stones. On its tip proudly sat a golden sun disk, glowing with such power and awe.

The disk staff, supported by the faceted jewels and golden clothing, was the key to the apparition's identity.

"Good morning, Shadi."

"Ah…hello, Ra." (Did'ja see that coming? I sure didn't. I can't describe Ra in a human form. O-o And how do you talk to Ra? Do you call him Ra-sama? But Ra is Egyptian, not Japanese… I dunno. Shadi'll talk to him like a normal person. O-o)

"The time has come, Shadi. I have given Atem his time in this…modern world," Ra said with a hint of slight disgust, as if the modern world were a lesser greatness than his own time warp. "It is time for him to return to us."

"Return to you?" Shadi questioned. "How so? Will he be accompanying you to the underworld?"

Ra rolled his eyes, but spoke in a neutral voice nonetheless. "It was voted upon in the Court of the Underworld (Ammut was rather crabby at the time, I think we interrupted one of his feedings…). We have decided, instead of sending him to the Fields of the Reed and his grant to an early eternal life, to send him back to Egypt, back to the time where he ruled as Pharaoh. He could have fulfilled so many things if he had not sealed half his soul into that Puzzle of his."

Shadi still had that questioning look in his eyes. "But time travel is impossible," he stated.

Ra scoffed. "To inferior humans, yes, but to gods…" He trailed off, smug smirk planted on his lips. "Our will is life's command."

Shadi nodded in understanding, but Ra wasn't finished just yet.

"Life to close-minded humans is simple. There is one Earth, one universe, one galaxy… That is where they are wrong. A so-called 'giant' universe is actually a sliver of time-coordinated thread in a giant galaxy. Each time a minute passes, a new thread is created the minute prior to the one passed, and the people present change their decision. So say, a woman marries her husband at exactly 8:01. They drive off to the reception, while a new threaded universe is created. In that thread, at 8:00, the man may run off and leave his soon-to-be wife at the altar. She instead marries his brother and they fly to Chicago to start a happy new life. Another thread is created at 7:59, where the woman realizes she hates her ex-fiancé's brother's guts and kills him. The threads keep appearing and appearing, making it so there are billions of one person, each in their own universe, each in its own time.

"I can take Atem to a universe warp right before he initiated the ceremony that bound him to the Puzzle. In that alternate reality, a castle guard assassinated their Atem. I can make it as though the assassin did a poor job, and merely wounded the pharaoh. Atem can cancel the ceremony, instead sacrificing another person in the high caste- say a high priest, or a royal scholar- to suffer the entrapment.

"There, he can rule as pharaoh in the time he was trapped in the Puzzle. Then, in that alternate universe, when he dies, he would have completed his life's work- in his _own_ time."

Shadi nodded, taking this all in. "I see."

Ra nodded. "Notify Atem and his…light. I will be ready for him at dawn tomorrow morning. He can have the night to say his good-byes to those…mortal friends of his…"

Shadi nodded dutifully. "Yes sir." (Heh…now Ra is a sir.)

Ra's holographic-looking image dissipated as a gust of sand-speckled Egypt wind blew over the pyramid and Shadi closed his eyes to block out the sand. The gust slowed to a halt and he pocketed the Ankh into the many folds of his robes. He withdrew the Scales and used its dormant Shadows to whisk himself away.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Yuugi laughed. "Smooth move, Jou. I'm sure she'll forgive you…sometime, I guess…"

"Forgive?" Anzu repeated from the third line, still huffing slightly from the aftermath of laughing so hard she started crying. "Yuugi, Jou spilled hot coffee all over Mai's newest designer blouse. Mai's the type of girl-"

"-who doesn't hold grudges- erm, never mind- who forgives you easily- uhm, no, not that either. Let me think about this for a while," Honda said through the fourth line, leaving Anzu laughing again, Jounouchi making withering sounds, and Yuugi tittering apologetically.

Yuugi closed his eyes and leaned back into his chair. A sudden surge of emotions flowed through his mind, and his amethysts snapped open. He blinked owlishly in anxiety.

_Yami? You okay?_ He received no answer.

"Guys. I've got to go and check something. Good luck, Jou- just tell Mai what you told us."

"That her blouse was all nasty-colored and covered with them coffee dregs?" Jounouchi inquired 'intelligently'.

Honda and Anzu burst out laughing.

"Uhm…yes, Jou…tell her that…" Yuugi arched an eyebrow, and with a quick "Bye," he put the phone back onto the receiver.

_Yami?_ There was still no answer. _Yami, I'm going to check on you._ He willed himself into the Puzzle and found himself in his own Soul Room. Yuugi looked around and gazed fondly at a giant red plushie in the corner of the room. Albeit it was the color of blood, he simply told himself that they matched Atem's eyes. The giant fluffy bear symbolized his unending innocence, with a tainting of blood corruptions. (Shadow Wars have corrupted him only slightly. Yum. Yeah, but he's still an innocent, kawaii hikari! n-n)

Yuugi padded out the door and stepped out into the Corridor. He approached his dark's door, where the bullion-colored Eye of Ra was engraved into the mahogany-colored wood. "Yami," he called, rapping in the door. "I'm coming in."

The tricolor-haired hikari slowly pushed the door open and was greeted by a wave of exotic Egyptian aromas. The room was surrounded, ceiling to floor, with golden bricks and cloaked with opaque fabrics hanging from above, making endlessly royal canopies in the air. Ancient-looking pots and vases were scattered around the entire place, complimented by large structures of Horus and other Egyptian gods.

Yuugi looked around, feeling rather- erm, even more- dwarfed, surrounded by the chamber's humungous, gaping walls. "Yami," he called out. He ventured to the wall behind a rather large bronze statue of Amon, the god of male fertility (I think…o-O This is what happens when you try to memorize everything from the Da Vinci Code… Heh…Amon is an anagram of Mona- it's crazy…GO READ THE BOOK, IT'S AWESOME!), where a door was located. It was well hidden, but Atem was a rather curious thing (even after evoking his memories), and he had discovered this door at once, immediately telling Yuugi.

Yuugi pulled on the handle and was greeted by a strange sight. His darkness was situated in the middle of the room, in his pharaoh's attire, with a familiar Egyptian guardian beside him.

"Shadi?" Yuugi questioned, staring into Shadi's emotionless indigos.

Atem looked up. He had his thumb up to his chin in thought, and his eyes were narrowed in contemplation. This all dissipated when he saw his light. "Aibou," he said in surprise, his eyes unclouding to be replaced with joy and some relief, "I did not know you were coming."

"I was calling," Yuugi shrugged before turning back to Shadi. "Hello again. This can't be good, can it?" he asked with a pained look that only he could project while revealing his strained exterior and chibi-cuteness. "You only pop around to tell us if evil is brewing, and if you pop into Yami's soul room…that can only mean trouble."

Shadi's indigos flickered. "I'm afraid today's visit isn't as joyous as our usual encounters."

Atem scoffed and crossed his arms whilst Yuugi's eyes widened. "Does that mean it's worse than when you came to warn us about…everything else?"

Shadi nodded desolately. "Before you came in, I told your darkness that Ra visited me today."

Yuugi nodded slowly. "What did Ra-sama say?"

Atem shrugged. "Shadi was just about to tell me."

Shadi eyed the two tricolor-haired people before him. "Perhaps we should speak outside the confines on the Puzzle," he suggested.

Atem arched an eyebrow. "Very well, I suppose. But you cannot deny us information and stall."

Shadi swallowed. "I wouldn't dream of it, my Pharaoh…"

Yuugi just watched in concern.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

The wind swayed the slim branches of the sakura trees outside. Yuugi caught an airborne blossom and cradled it in his cupped fingers. Looking up, he nodded towards Shadi and lowered the sakura. "You can continue, Shadi."

"Ra…Ra told me that he would come for the Pharaoh at dawn tomorrow morning," Shadi stated, acting as neutral as he could.

Atem arched an eyebrow. "Come for me?" he repeated.

Shadi lowered his head. "Yes."

Yuugi looked up at the guardian with wide, questioning eyes. "Meaning?"

Shadi looked down at the hikari gravely. "Meaning Pharaoh Atem must leave, and reclaim his throne as pharaoh in Egypt 5,000 years ago."

Yuugi's eyes widened to a size he himself didn't know could be achieved. "Why?" he asked, his voice cracking.

"_aAt_…" Shadi trailed off, eyes depicting no answer to Yuugi's question. "…I have to go." The Shadows began to mist at his knees. "Dawn tomorrow morning." They swallowed him immediately, leaving only the grayish residue of used Magic.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

"_mr_," Atem said gravely, eyes lowered, "we have some bad news…"

……………

"_iTA_-" Atem spat the name out like poison (they were on better terms now more than ever, which was pretty sad, seeing that he 'spat out the name like poison'). "-Ryou, Marik, Malik… Shadi visited us today…"

……………

The reactions were relatively the same. Gasps, worried stares, short, awkward silences…

But Yuugi was the worst: complete silence and wide, sorrow-filled eyes. The others decided to give him the rest of the time Atem had left in Japan.

(Blah blah blah. Here's their day in short terms: they had fun. The end.)

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

It was nearly eleven and they were back in Yuugi's room. Yuugi was situated at his bed, back against the headboard so that he was in a sitting position. Atem was on a round, little pouf with his hands clasped together, elbows balanced on his knees.

Atem's eyes were clouded, a sign of heavy thinking in that mind of his. Yuugi's were worried, a sign of…worry.

"Yami…do you want to go?" the shorter of the two questioned.

Atem looked up from his intertwined fingers. "No, of course not. I would never want to leave you…or our friends."

Yuugi sighed, looking up at the ceiling, stifling a yawn. "I see…"

Atem eyed Yuugi with concern. "You're tired. Go to sleep."

"No I'm not," Yuugi replied stubbornly. "I'm staying up 'til dawn so I can send you off with a goodbye."

"No, you're _not_. Growing boys need sleep," Atem countered just as stubbornly.

"I'm not a growing boy."

"At that height, I would think so…"

"Not like that!" Yuugi cried, trying to whap Atem.

Atem laughed. "Go to sleep, Aibou."

"Well…I am feeling slightly…drowsy…"

"Night night, Aibou…" Atem swayed his arms around, trying to create the illusion of a dream…an odd dream.

"You're so silly, Yami… Will you…be here when I wake up…?" Yuugi's eyes slid shut. (Yeah, he falls asleep that fast xPPP)

Atem's eyes softened at the sight of his light's peaceful, innocent slumber. "No…" he whispered, liquid crystals forming at his eyes. "I'm sorry…"

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Chapter revision completed anduploaded on September 5.

o.o That was…different. And it took me weeks. O.o /shrug/ Oh, and if you reviewed the first version of this chapter, and you want to review again, just review anonymously with your penname as the…name. Yah, thanks, ja.

Ooooh, and I actually used Egyptian words! _U_n-n I'm not sure if I used them right, though… /cough/

_aAt _– Because

_mr –_ Friends

_iTA- _Thief


	2. Dreary Dreary

Complete chapter revision began on September 7, 2005.

And thanks to _Hikari Skysong _and _Miriku-Yami's Queen of the Nile-Yami no Hikari_ for reviewing the first chapter again. /huggles/

Miriku: Really? I thought the first version sucked ass. -.- It was…inexpressive and a rather juvenile compared to my other stuff, I critique. Too many one-liners that I thought counted as paragraphs. X.x

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Yuugi woke with a start. The first thought that crossed his mind was Atem. "Yami!" he exclaimed, jumping out of bed. The digital alarm clock beside his phone illustrated the numbers _8:35_. _Shoot!_ his mind screamed. _He's gone…_

The hikari washed and dressed up, deadpan expression plastered on his face throughout the entire daily routine. His leather boots stomped down the steps of the staircase, making Solomon look up from sweeping the tiled floor of the Game Shop.

"Good morning," Solomon greeted, propping the handle of the broom onto the edge of the counter. "How are you doing?" Honda had called at around eight to tell the elder Mutou about Atem's departure note.

Yuugi looked up at Solomon, eyes devoid of their usual spark. "Fine, thank you, and how are you?"

Solomon sighed as his grandson took his customary spot behind the counter. "Yuugi, I know what happened, and I know this is going to be hard for you-"

Yuugi shook his head doggedly. "No it's not. I'm fine."

Solomon arched an eyebrow, but said nothing.

"Thank you," Yuugi huffed. He turned back to the register perched atop the counter, just when the tinkle of the bell sounded.

"Hey there Yuugi!"

"Hi Yuugi."

"Uhm… What dey said."

Yuugi laughed. "Hi guys. What's up?"

Jounouchi turned serious (which surprised Yuugi, seeing that…he was a dumb mutt XD). "But seriously, Yuug'. Are you okay? Seeing dat da pharaoh is gone…"

Yuugi frowned and Solomon chuckled, giving Yuugi a _'Now you're gonna hafta talk about it! Nya-nya!' _look. "I'm fine," he snapped, his voice harder than he had intended.

Anzu winced and recoiled slightly. "Yuugi, look. We just want to see that you're okay."

"I _am_ okay-"

"We don't want you going suicidal or anything, Yuugi," Honda supplied.

Yuugi's frown deepened. "I'm not-"

"Or crazy like dat lady down da street of my dad's apartment."

"I'm not crazy," Yuugi said hotly.

"And we don't want you to get all moody. You might change your emotions on us like an insane person-"

Yuugi cut Anzu off, seething slightly. "That's enough!" he snapped. "I'm okay, I'm not suicidal, I'm not crazy, and I don't have mood swings!" He stomped his leather-clad foot on the ground and stormed out of the game shop, brushing angrily between Jounouchi and Honda.

Then, the bell rang again, and the hikari's head appeared at the doorway. "I _told_ you guys I'm okay," he said smugly, voice happy and bright. "And I _don't_ have mood swings!" he growled. "I'm going for a walk," he decided.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

After about ten minutes of aimless wandering, Yuugi found that his feet had carried him to Domino Park- under the exact, same sakura tree where he and Atem had received the bad news from Shadi.

Yuugi stared up at the blossoms, full in bloom, and the fluttering cherry petals that filled the air. "Why…?" he murmured to himself, eyes locked with a pirouetting petal. "It was perfect. Now it can't get any worse…"

A quiet rustling of pressure being applied on the grass reached Yuugi's ears (My insane way of saying Yuugi heard footsteps. xPPP). The tricolor-haired teen turned, and when he saw whom his visitor was, he immediately took back his words. "What is it? Ra wants a pint of my blood, or what? Is it my turn to go now?" he asked sarcastically, a very out of character trait on his part.

Shadi sighed.

Yuugi froze at the look on his face. "Shadi…" he said cautiously. "Is there something I should know…?"

Shadi stepped closer to Yuugi, face blank.

Panic rose in Yuugi's gut. Shadi wasn't acting like Shadi. "Shadi…" He took a step back, sweat rolling down his temple when Shadi took another step forward. "Shadi, you're scaring me."

"I am sorry, Hikari Pharaoh," he said.

Yuugi sighed, forgiving character immediately surfacing. "It's not your fault Ra wants Yami to go back to Egypt…"

"Not that…" Shadi trailed off. He took the Ankh out from one of the many folds in his robes. With his free hand, he held Yuugi's Puzzle, which was still hung around the hikari's neck with a cord. "The Puzzle has no soul in it, correct?"

"Yeah, sure…"

"What is its purpose now?"

"I don't know." Yuugi shrugged. "A memento?"

"You know, Yuugi…" Shadi slid a finger across the surface of the Puzzle. "It _must_ have a soul. That is what Ra has informed me."

"Uh-huh…and what do you mean by that-?" A look of realization dawned on Yuugi's face. "Preferably mine, ne?" he asked bitterly.

Shadi nodded.

"Whatever," Yuugi sighed. "Then again, I can't exactly refuse, can I?"

Shadi shook his head.

"Promise to tell everyone what happened. And give my deck to Malik. Jou'd probably spill something on it…" o-O "But can I ask you one thing?"

Shadi neither nodded nor shook his head. Yuugi took that as a yes.

"Will I ever…you know…get out of the Puzzle?"

Shadi shrugged. "I suppose if someone completed it. You would make like the Pharaoh and be a sort of guide- yami- to your new charge- hikari."

Yuugi nodded. "And if I go insane in the darkness of the Puzzle? Or lose all my memories?"

Shadi shrugged again. It was an out of character gesture, but then again, it would be insensitive to act his mysteriously blank (and really annoying) way (C'mon- it's annoying 'cause he's like… 'Rawr, I don't have emotions and I know everything…').

Yuugi sighed. "All right then; do whatever you came here to do."

With one swift movement, the guardian thrust the tip of the Ankh into the Eye of Ra engraved into the Puzzle. The Puzzle shattered into their million pieces (I'm exaggerating. -.-), immediately falling to the ground. The golden one piece connected to the cord glowed a bright blue light, instantaneously enveloping the hikari in its glow.

Shadi watched in a frozen awe as the light dissipated. Yuugi's small, graceful body dropped awkwardly to the ground. The last Puzzle piece glowed a dazzling gold, and then…it all stopped.

Shadi frowned sadly. "I'm sorry…" he murmured again. He then began to collect each piece of the Puzzle, unlooping the cord from around Yuugi's neck. He dropped each one of them into a duplicate of the Puzzle box Ra had created and summoned the Shadows to his aid. Then he was gone…

(This part was a little rushed, I know. I'm sorry!)

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Ryou growled.

"Yay!" Bakura exclaimed. "My hikari learned to growl!"

Malik sighed. "You're stupid," he stated, whacking the albino yami.

Marik cackled, only to be whapped by Ryou.

"You should be ashamed of yourselves," Ryou scolded, planting his hands onto his hips. "You don't go stealing the balloon man's balloons and start popping them beside random people's ears!"

Malik stifled a snicker.

"None of that!" Ryou snapped hotly. He sighed and lowered his hands when his three companions all began to laugh at him. "Oh, you're all hopeless gits." He stomped past the small pond near their resting spot and turned his back to them so that he faced the wood of sakura trees. "Wait a moment…"

Malik was the only smart one to shut up and stop laughing. "What's wrong, Ryou?" he asked cautiously.

"There's someone there…"

Bakura stopped laughing in time to turn to Ryou's direction. "Probably some bum-"

"Yuugi," Marik stated impassively. "Look at its- his- hair."

"Why is he just lying there?" Bakura questioned.

"Does it matter?" Ryou said. "We need to help him!" The albino hikari immediately bounded off to the clearing before the sakuras.

Marik, Malik, and Bakura had no choice but to follow him. When they reached Ryou, who was kneeled down before Yuugi's body, they spied his crestfallen expression.

"Ryou…" Bakura murmured carefully. "What is it?"

Ryou looked up, eyes misty. "He's not breathing."

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

"So…he's gone forever?"

"Just until someone completes the Puzzle," Shadi supplied.

"I can't believe it…" Solomon (Bleh…like I'm gonna remember how to spell his Japanese name… Dubbed name it is! n-n) murmured. "He left on such bad terms…"

"No we didn't, Ojii-chan," Anzu said soothingly. "He was fine with our coddling. He's used to it. I just wish…that he would have told us first before he left."

Shadi nodded comfortingly. "Ra is frankly not a patient god."

Honda sighed. "Well-"

"OJII-CHAN!" came a familiar voice from the threshold of the game shop. Ryou came in tow, eyes pulsing with worry. Behind him followed his darkness, closely pursued by two certain Egyptians. In Ryou's arms was a bundle of black and dark blue leather, fitted onto a small, lithe body with wild, tri-colored hair.

"Shadi! Anzu…! Honda…? Jou? Why are you all here? Argh- why am I asking you this? Something's wrong with Yuugi. He's-"

"Soulless," Honda contributed.

Ryou stopped talking and shut his mouth. It seemed being soulless was no better than being dead: the British Japanese man dropped the bundle of Game King, letting him crumple to the floor at his feet.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

_This is stupid. This is stupid. My money. Grrr. Spend your own money, old man. Rawr…_

"Kaiba?" Solomon prodded the CEO in the arm.

Seto's head snapped up. "What? …I mean, yes. Yes, sure…"

"Thanks Kaiba!" Honda cried, jumping up from Seto's expensive leather chaise lounge a little too excitedly. He looked down at his feet and murmured to Anzu, who was seated beside him on the expensive settee, "Never thought I'd be thanking Kaiba…" Jounouchi snickered.

Ryou, Malik, their yamis, Rebecca, Otogi, and Mai were already out buying a casket (to put Yuugi's soulless body into) with Seto's money even before confirmation that he was giving them money. The mutt, Anzu, and Honda were currently on Seto's leather couch, while Solomon was seated on a loveseat.

_I enjoyed Yuugi's company and leadership as much as anybody (not that I'd tell anyone), but come ON! My money, you old, senile man… Aren't you like, Mr. Famous-Game-King's-Grandfather-That-Takes-All-His-Tournament-Money? And you have a successful game shop (I grudgingly admit), even though dice-boy's trouncing you in sales. MY MONEY, STUPID OLD MAN._

"I was tinking bright yellah canopies and dark brown suits," Jounouchi said. "For da ceremony, ya know?"

Honda nodded enthusiastically.

Anzu wrinkled her nose and stuck out her tongue. "You guys have such bad taste. Don't listen to them, Kaiba. I was thinking-"

"No pink flowers and sparkly butterflies," Seto snapped immediately.

Anzu glared at the CEO the best she could while Solomon, Jounouchi, and Honda all snickered appreciatively. "…Fine," she said after a while, her arms crossed stubbornly. This caused Seto to smirk triumphantly.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Marik closed his eyes and sprawled himself out on the giant block of stone in content.

"Marik," Shadi said with slight irritation. "Get off of that. It's nearly five thousand years old."

The two were in the tomb of the Sennen Items (I might switch from Sennen to Millennium, 'cause I forget which one I use most of the time…). The Puzzle box was atop the tablet where the Sennen Items all used to reside, glittering in the dim light of several torches.

Marik shrugged and kicked his feet so that his heels hit the side of the tablet. "Whatever. Why are we here anyway? Who's going to come all the way down here? We can't give anyone the Puzzle when this place is deserted."

"Fate plucks its own strings, Marik, you have to remember that. When the one who shall receive the Puzzle decides to emerge, we will know."

"Yeah, like someone's going to just waltz on in here and-"

"Guys! I found a passageway to the tomb we've heard so much about."

"This is pretty spooky. The Gringotts goblins've been tracing powerful Dark Magic here for a bunch of years. It stopped four or five years ago, but still… I can feel it…"

Echoic voices drifted in through the tunnel of the chamber. Long, gangly shadows stretched across the torch-flickered wall, and footsteps could be heard crunching on the dusty limestone floor.

Shadi looked up warily, seldom-showed surprise etched on his face. He pulled his index finger up to his lips and stalked away, leaving Marik to follow his trail. The Puzzle box glittered again in the torchlight, innocent and _normal_, the absolute contrary of its true nature.

The two hid in the shadows as four men and, surprisingly, a black dog appeared in the tomb.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Bill patted Snuffles on the head. "Stop fidgeting," he murmured from the corner of his mouth. "My colleagues are getting suspicious."

Snuffles looked up at Bill with giant blue eyes, causing the eldest Weasley to laugh and ruffle the small tuft of hair on the grim's head. "Worse than Ginny, Siri, worse than Ginny."

"Bill." One of Bill's coworkers, Rodge, pointed to a stone tablet in the middle of the room. "We've levitated Dan Michael up there and he's filming an aerial coverage of the tablet. Jonathan's tried to touch that weird box-thing on the tablet, but no good. There's some sort of Dark shield around it that our spells can't remove."

Bill nodded to his Vietnamese partner and watched as Dan floated up with a wizard recorder, muscled arms holding the confusing, heavy contraption. Seriously, Bill noted, wizards needed to get into modern Muggle modes nowadays. A Muggle video recorder (Dad had bragged for a week about seeing one in a window display once) was much lighter looking, and was probably as efficient as a wizard's.

He walked over to the tablet, Snuffles trailing at his feet, and nodded to Jonathan. "Any Dark curses fired back at you for touching the shield?" Bill inquired.

"No." Jonathan massaged his slim wrists with a wince and a half-smile. "But I did get a bugger of a nasty shock." He laughed lightly and poked the shield again, withdrawing his finger before the shield could bite back. "I've done this five times now. Got shocked twice, got away thrice."

Bill shook his head with slight mirth and watched Jonathan walk off to aid Rodge. He stared at the pulsating shield. It was unlike anything he had ever seen before. Normal curses set on Egyptian tombs were invisible, and we usually undetectable. They struck out at you like a snake in the grass when you got too close. But this shield was merely a shield protecting its contents. It was visibly there to show you its insides should not be touched, and it gave a mere shock to those foolish enough to try and steal it.

A curious Snuffle stood on his hind legs and propped his paws up on the tablet, dangerously close to the shield.

"Don't touch it," Bill warned. "Last thing we need is you getting electrified, Sir." (Pronounced _Seer._)

"Oi, Bill, it's twelve-ish and we're starving. Let's Apparate back to London for a quick bite of lunch. We can come back to get rid of the shield (or try at least)."

"Fine. C'mon, Siri." Ignoring Dan's comment on how he switched the dog's name every time he spoke it, Bill followed his colleagues out through the leeway of stone that led to open air.

Snuffles did not follow.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

The shield intrigued him. Now glad with no giant, dripping, lolling tongue and with reinstated thumbs, Sirius was staring down at the circular shield with…intrigue. I was so mysterious…and shiny. Not shiny, all glittery. More shiny like…it reflected the light of the torches and pulsated, making it look alive.

Sirius grinned a childish grin and thought back when Harry was a wee child of one years old. He read him a child's version of King Jack, a Muggle who pulled a sword out of a slab of stone. Or maybe it was King Bob… King Robert? King Arthur? It didn't matter much anyway.

Lily had decided Harry should be raised with both Muggle and wizard knowledge. She brought a couple of Muggle contraptions (strange things like a mobile that played music and spun around when you pressed a tiny little button) from home, and Sirius had found himself reading to the little tyke. Both wizard males had loved the story. Maybe Sirius did more. He had decided acting out the story while reading was more exciting, and had lost himself in the tale, pulling Harry's stuffed doggy out of a pile of other tightly packed stuffed animals. He was too caught up in the story that Harry decided whacking him with his milk bottle was necessary.

Sirius grinned at the memory (which didn't really make much sense the way I wrote it…). This situation was a lot like King Arthur's. And Sirius liked King Arthur's story.

"Rawr! I am King Arthur. I'm a great king (with fabulous hair and fair blue eyes) who will pull this sword (and by sword I mean weird golden box thing) out from this slab of stone (which really is a weird Dark shield thingy). Hyyy—AH!" Without a second thought, Sirius had plunged his hand into the shield. "Oh…no…?"

"That was stupid."

Sirius looked around. In the corner of the chamber, where all the torches were extinguished, a pair of maliciously amused crimson eyes stared out at him.

"Who are you? Show yourself!"

Two figured appeared from the darkness. One was wearing a manila-colored robes and a turban while the other donned black leather pants and a light gray belly shirt.

The first thing that came to mind was…

"Are you bald under that turban?"

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

"'Test my mind'? What do you mean 'test my mind'?"

"Simple, Black. We delve through your mind. If you are worthy, you shall receive the Puzzle, the item of immense power. If you are not…" Shadi let the possibilities flow.

"You'll kill me?"

"Not kill exactly. More like rip out your soul," Marik chirped happily.

Sirius sighed. The situation he was in was obviously odder than any other before. This Shadi person (along with Marik) had learned that he was a wizard, and had no problem with it at all. Now they were going to look through his _mind_ and give him a _Puzzle_, which had some _so-called_ immense power.

"No thanks," Sirius said, eyeing the Puzzle warily. "I'm fine, thanks. I should be going now." He turned tail and was about to walk away, but someone tapped him on the shoulder.

Sirius sighed. "I said I'm leaving." He turned around to tell his tapper to bug off, but once he twisted around, something penetrated his forehead. Black clouded his mind, clotting his vision, until only lightless abyss was visible. Then the world stopped.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

I got f:cking writer's block while writing the last portion, so I'm sorry it sucked so much. XC And since I'm too lazy to edit the fourth chapter, Sirius won't be that angry that Shadi went into his mind. Bleh…

Review please? Thank you! . /huggles/

DAMN F:CKING HORIZONTAL SCROLLBAR. /smashes it/ I'm sorry I'm so tempermental. /sigh/ I'm feeling a little angry at random people. o-O


	3. Author Note

READ THIS IF YOU WANT EXPLANATIONS ON BAKURA, MARIK, AND THE SO-CALLED 'SHADOW WARS'.Okay, here ya go:

Bakura is still on earth because he was forced into the Ring as a punishment, therefore he had no mission, therefore not having anything to accomplish and put his soul to rest. I know he is supposed to go, but I can't torture Ryou like that.

Ryou: Yay!

Yugi:. /incredulous stare/ But I though you liked me better!

Killah: I do! That's why I must torture you. DUH.

Yugi: …

Killah: Besides, I like Bakara better than Yami…

Yami: v.V…

The Shadow Wars is some bull I made to give everyone a reason to band together. People needing to band together include Seto, Malik, Marik, and Bakura. Just pretend they spent four years fighting Duel Monsters from crazy people who had control of the Shadow Realm.

Marik is on earth initially because he was supposedly in the first year of the Shadow Wars, resurrected from the Shadow Realm to get revenge on his hikari and the Pharaoh. He is the reason Malik joined the 'army.' But in the end, he somehow became good and is a part of the team. You can't banish your insane anger forever, so he is here to stay.

I am not planning to write a story on the Shadow Wars. As I said before, it's bull I made to finally make some sort of time lapse in which it takes longer for Yami to get back his memories. I wanted this for when Yugi gets a host (a hikari! yay!), he would be less of an innocent, naïve dude, and more of a skilled warrior. If you want a Shadow Wars story…go make your own. /cheesy grin/ You can go on ahead, I don't care.

Not that anyone would want to write the actual story, but here's the info on the Shadow Wars if you just wanna know:

YEAR 1 (out of four): Marik (Yami no Malik) is back again. He's allied with evil Shadows that seek revenge on the Pharaoh and rallied up some vengeful souls that also want revenge or just want to wreak havoc. He uh…sets them on Domino and yeah… The Ishtars- Isis, Rishid, and Malik join the 'army,' a.k.a. Yugi-tachi- including Jou, Anzu, Honda, Rebecca, Otogi, Mai, Yuugi, and Yami. In the end, Marik sees his faults (O.O) and un-becomes a bad guy. Cheesy, ne? He joins the 'army' and has a separate body from his hikari.

YEAR 2 (out of four): Um…yeah, this is getting old, but DUM DUH DUH! Mokuba is taken hostage! Seto is automatically on the case, going to the only peeps he knows know what to do in a situation like this- YUGI-TACHI! In the end, they find out _(some guy you wish to be the bad guy) _is behind it all, stomp him, and get Mokuba back. Seto gets a little softer (to everyone but Jou) and decides to stay with the 'army.' Note the word LITTLE. Somewhere in the middle, they're confronted by the Minister of Magic, Kimihiro Waya, who tries to stop them from banishing this one dragon Duel Monster. This is elaborated in chapter…something…I dunno…

YEAR 3 (out of four): Uh… Zork is somehow un-merged from Yami Bakura and is out to get Yugi-tachi. Va-va-voom! Ryou immediately goes to the little 'army' for help. They all get wary of him (duh, 'cause he houses the soul of Bakara BAKURA: Don't call me that, you insolent mortal!), except for Yugi. One day, Bakura, who had taken over Ryou's body, and Zork meet up and talk. Bakura agrees to help him in world domination. What he didn't know was that he was going to be stabbed in the back. (Duh- that's why Zork de-merged…) So then Zork's all: "HAHAHAHAHA!" and goes attacking Ryou when he's defenseless and walking down the street. Then Bakura's all like: "NOOOOOO! NOT RYOU!" And then he takes over da body and takes the blow 'cause he lubbies his hikari (BAKURA:. /licks lips/ KILLAH: Not that way!. /whaps head/ O-O). Then, Yugi, who was hidin' in da bushes, comes out and makes Zork go away (for that moment in time anyway -.-) and takes Bakura to the hospital. He tells the 'army' about how awesome Bakura was for Ryou. They all agree about Bakura's loyalties and ask the duo to join their 'army.' They all join together and va-va-voom! Zork is GONE and Bakura gets his own body. I don't know how- he just does.

YEAR 4 (out of four): Uh… Everyone is all yay-yay and then…boom! Another villain. You pick the villain. They all fight and BAM! They win. As easy as that, ne? Yami gets his memories back, blah blah blah, duels Yuugi and loses, blah blah blah... Ra feels sorry for him and lets him stay in the modern world for a while. Yami is given a chance by Shadi to separate from Yugi, but he refuses and everyone lives in peace. He does, however, have the ability to separate from Yuugi's body for a few hours at a time, in both physical and spiritual form. This happens at least six months before the first chapter of Hikari no Mahoustukai. So then there you go. That is the Shadow Wars. Buh-bye now. Random things in there, in a bunch of places. Y'know…people getting bruised, taken hostage. Whatever…

I guess this counts as a regular chapter, ne? After all, I am telling a story- four, to be specific. No reporting this chapter, or anything. -.- This ain't no author's note…

Oh, and I updated this chapter too. I've added Otogi, Mai, and Rebecca to the Shadow Warrior-dudes-yeah-men-and-women-yeah… They're cool. /wink/


	4. A Sirius Soul Room

Thank you for reviewing, everyone!

**Kiota-Chan**, **seers-of-a-lost-paradise**, **Hikari Skysong**, **Dagger-dice**, **Atemu Yugi Lover34**, and **Kitroku**

Dagger-dice: Cool! n-n That'd be so awesome! If you decide to publish it, then I'd totally review it.

Hikari Skysong: XP Yeah, but I can't wait that long, and I'm sure Yuugi can't either. n-n

Kiota-Chan: Okay- no problem! Here yah go!

n-n

Okay- I was rereading my previous chapters, and I realized- they all sucked. n-n What's that? You knew? -.- Oh, well thank you for stating the truth. XP So I'm going to try making these chapters longer, and hopefully better, for all of you. You don't deserve this crap I write. -.- Bigger paragraphs (at least here in Word X3) for j00! If I suddenly have the urge to rewrite the first two chapters (which will happen when I DIE! BWUHAHAHA!), then I hope they will be satisfactory to you.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Shadi found himself in a very cell-like room, as if he were in some sort of dungeon. The air was thick with sadness, grief, anger, and even a little insanity. There was a looming darkness in the air, sucking the happiness out of the room like dehydrated athletes sucked water from bottles. (Bad analogy, I know. -.-) Shadi turned as the cold, eerie darkness seemed to brush against the back hem of his robes.

"Ah," he said in a tonelessly surprised voice. Behind him was a dark, hooded figure, clad in a wispy, ebony robe. It hovered above the air in uncanny stillness, robe fluttering behind it. Under the hood was complete blackness, its face concealed by shadows.

Shadi could sense a horrible darkness emitting from the robed, flying thing. It was not normal to have such a thing in one's soul room, for it emanated a horrible draftiness. He frowned as the Sennen Scales appeared in his hands. He held it out to the figure, watching as the scale closest to the black thing tipped over quickly. In just a few seconds, the flying figure's scale was already at its limit. It was obviously laden with sin.

He sighed as the Scale did its work. The tipped scale of the figure's side slowly sucked at the robe-clad thing's soul, nipping and pulling at it. The Scale ended up defective. Shadi arched an eyebrow as the thing decided to fade away.

The entire room faded of its darkness, replaced with a regular-looking room. Four white walls and such. "Why wasn't that thing's soul banished?" Shadi wondered aloud.

"It doesn't have a soul…" a voice in the corner of the room supplied quietly.

Shadi turned. There was Sirius, the owner of this room, sitting in the corner with a haunted, but neutral look in his eyes.

"Elaborate," Shadi said simply.

"What you just saw is a Dementor. They patrol the cells and guard the door of Azkaban, the wizarding prison. They suck the happiness from the room and bring back horrible feelings of sadness and such. Sometimes, when rogue, they give you a kiss, which steals your soul and leaves you an empty shell, devoid of feeling as you walk aimlessly through life. If something so horrible like that would actually exist- which is does- I would doubt it would have a soul."

"You can still live? These Dementors are inefficient…" Shadi muttered to himself. "Out power enables us to fully banish the soul, so that the victim is forever unconscious…"

Sirius seemed not to hear that part as he stood up from his spot in the corner. "Where am I?" he asked. "And why was that Dementor here?"

Shadi silenced him with a wave of his hand and took the time to look around the room. There were boxes stacked around the room in an unorganized manner, and, as unusual as it was, a sort of cell in the corner of the room Sirius had just been standing in. It was a box fenced in by black, prison bars, about ten feet by eight.

"Ignore that," Sirius said quietly. "It's a simple dark spot I'm not proud of."

"Have you ever stepped foot into this room ever before?" Shadi asked inquiringly. "Without knowing what it was?"

"Yes," Sirius said after a moment's hesitation. "Once in Azkaban, but it was a complete dungeon cell, not this place, and once right after I…fell off Buckbeak and blacked out. It was like this room, right now."

"Hm…okay then." Shadi then turned from Sirius and completely ignored him. "Please step away from me as I explore your room," he said tonelessly.

"What?" Sirius asked.

"Step away," Shadi repeated. He then turned and stalked through the room. He unearthed boxes and rummaged through their contents, avoiding things like knick-knacks and such.

"What is this?" he called out to Sirius, turning around- only to be nose-to-nose with Sirius' face. "Ah," he said again in the same toneless surprise.

"Heh heh…" Sirius said sheepishly. "Need a little space?" he asked.

Shadi arched an eyebrow, an apparent gesture for 'yes.'

Sirius stepped back and took the item from Shadi's outreached hand. "Oh," he said after examining it for a moment. He let out a dog-like bark of laughter. "This is mine." He fingered the piece of rawhide affectionately. It was a strap of brownish-black leather, connected at its ends with a piece of black string, to make an unbroken circular, collar-like thing. Etched into the front of the collar, in scribble-y, uneven writing was the word _Snuffles_.

He laughed as Shadi pulled out another collar. This one said _Padfoot_. The leather of that one was more older-looking and worn, the writing almost matched the color of the pelt.

"These are my dog collars," he said, still chortling, but this time at the inquiring look Shadi had on his face. "Before I tell you anything…can I trust you?"

Shadi shook his head, more in denial than in a negative answer. "Trust does not exist in a world like yours, or even mine. There is no dependence upon those whom you have trusted. There is no room to rely on one when a world is falling apart. There is only courage in the person you wish to reveal yourself to, only to expect- without fault- that they will believe and fight alongside you, and valor in yourself, to have the gallantry to reveal. So you may trust me, only to be a fool. What do you think, Black? Will you trust me, lean on me with confidence, only to find that I may one day fall, or even betray you? Or will you take the plunge and reveal to me your intentions- but rely on yourself to carry your own burden of troubles, so that I may I believe and fight alongside you, rather than for you?"

Sirius was silent for a moment, thoughts rushing through his head. This man had a lot to say, he could tell. "I…don't do that, mister. I can rely on myself," he said almost smugly.

"Then proceed with your explanation," Shadi said, stooping down low to sift through the boxes again. "You earlier said that you were a wizard; elaborate on this."

"Well…" Sirius automatically went on shifty, suspicious mode. "Say…are you some sort of spy for Voldemort, feigning the position as a magical, yet non-wizard, trying to gain my trust in order to get information for him?" he asked in what he obviously thought was a subtle manner.

Shadi responded to him question with a blank stare. "…"

"Do you serve the Dark Lord?" Sirius asked, more force in his voice, breaking the…_subtle…_weeding of information.

"I am no traitor to my tradition, Black. I serve no one but my Pharaoh- the master of darkness, and his light- the one beacon of hope in this world the gods have damned."

Somehow, although he himself could not tell why, he knew the robed man was not lying. There was something eerily trustable (even though Shadi told him not to trust people) about him, and the way his eyes did not flicker or show signs of lying. "Okay. We wizards are magical, as most wizards, in those strange 'fairy tales' you Muggles read, are. There's this real evil wizard named Volemort and he's trying to…"

So Sirius explained everything: Voldemort's quest for power and world domination, Harry's position in the war against the Dark Lord, his own unfair conviction, and Hogwarts.

All the while Sirius was explaining, Shadi was both listening and delving through the room's secrets. His interest pricked at the mention of Harry Potter, Sirius' godson.

Such valor and courage. A laudable child with no swagger in his actions. No real intention to save the world, but Fate put life's well being into his hands.

It was almost a perfect match to Yuugi Motou, the Pharaoh's hikari, except that this Harry Potter boy had no darkness. …That was all about to change…

"Black, my good sir," Shadi said, straightening up, for he had no need to rummage through the boxes anymore, "you have passed this test."

"Oooh," Sirius said cheerfully, obviously giddy. "Do I get this illustrious 'item of immense power'?" n-n

"No." Sirius sulked. "Instead, your godson gets it."

Sirius shrugged. "Makes sense, I suppose," he said. "Harry needs all the help he could get if he wants to destroy Voldemort. And immense power would certainly help him…"

"So you will approve of giving it to him?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Excellent. Now let us leave and I will explain this item."

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

"Are you sure Harry will be safe with the…person…in the Puzzle?" Sirius asked. Shadi- with the help of Marik- had explained every minute of Yuugi's life (like the stalkers- /cough/ I mean, PROTECTORS- they were) and now Sirius knew as much as everyone else from the Shadow Wars did.

"Absolutely," Shadi replied. "Yuugi would never hurt a fly, and he'll protect your godson with his life."

Sirius seemed content with this response. "Okay, I'll give him the Puzzle. But if that Yuugi kid tried to take over his body for eternity, then I'll take the Puzzle and smash it."

"…" Shadi …-ed. "That is not necessary, Black. Yuugi will not do that."

"Tell Yuugi-chan that we all say hello," Marik said cheerfully. Sirius nodded back at the two Egyptians and left through the same tunneling path that he took to arrive at the tomb. As he walked, he studied the box in interest. There was a single Eye of Ra engraved in the front of the box, with glittering hieroglyphics surrounding it. A sort of magical glow emitted from the box, making Sirius arch an eyebrow in curiosity. He walked under a flickering torch and opened the box.

He smiled down at the sparkling Puzzle pieces, vaguely wondering how such harmless-looking pieces of gold actually harbored the soul of an eighteen-year-old teen. He picked up one piece and gasped as a dark, unfamiliar magic flowed in through his fingertips and into his system.

The torchlight, and all the other flames flickered and died in an instant. Sirius was left in darkness, only the eerily glowing Puzzle pieces left to light his way. He slowly felt some magical strength flood into the piece in his hands, wondering where it was going…

"What the bloody hell is going on?"

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Darkness everywhere. No wonder the pharaoh had forgotten everything. The Shadows steamed in through the boy's mind, befuddling all rational thought and memory. He had already forgotten his name, and he had only been in the abyss for a day or two.

The boy looked around in surprise as a loud whirring filled the air. _Pop_. A large wall of wood appeared on his far left, yards and yards away. _Pop. Pop. Pop_. Another one on the far right, one in front of him, and one in back of him. The walls compressed together to form a room, the black fading away.

Now it looked like a normal room- without a door or windows. _Pop._ Oooh- a doorway appeared in one of the walls. Suddenly, a question popped into the boy's head. What was the game he used to play with his friends? The doorway glowed and a room materialized behind the doorway. Who were his friends, anyway?

Where did he used to live?

Did he have any family?

Why was his hair so…tall and spiky? Was it natural?

More doors and rooms emerged, and stairways materialized to make more room for MORE doors and rooms overhead. (Unless I'm not making myself clear (which happens a lot T-T), a door and room appear each time he forgets something. Like in Yami's soul room. He lost all his memories, and there were like a bagillion rooms in his quarters, so those symbolized all the forgotten stuff he forgot, and he could explore them to uncover stuff. But that's just my way of seeing things… Ignore me… /slinks away/)

The room was soon filled with many, many doors, stairways, and rooms. (Jeez, he's forgetting a lot in two days. XP) It vaguely reminded him of another person's room, but he just couldn't remember. He did visualize golden bricks…but that was it.

More questions appeared in the boy's head until a sudden whirring filled the air again. A portal appeared. The boy expected to be sucked into its swirling abyss, or for something to come flying out, but nothing of that sort happened. Instead, a thought rushed into his head, as an unnoticed, unfamiliar light magic filtered into the room. (Three guesses to who it belongs to. Last two don't count. HAH! Take that! xJ Only one guess! HAHAHAHA! . /cough/ Um…continuing now…)

His name was Yuugi Mutou. He played Duel Monsters, and practically everyone was his friend. But his closest friends were Anzu, Katsuya, and Hiroto. He lived in Domino City, Japan, in a quaint little game shop. His only living relative that he knew of was his grandfather. And his hair WAS natural.

Yuugi looked around. He remembered everything. The Puzzle, Yami, Shadow Magic, everything. So where was he?—oh, right… He remembered. He was in the Puzzle. Thank Kami-sama he hadn't forgotten everything like his darkness had. Well, he had begun to, but now all his memories were restored. The boy wondered why, though. Everything was disappearing, but they suddenly came back…because a portal appeared.

Yuugi stepped towards the portal, cautiously staring at it in caution. He outstretched an arm, his fingers nearly grazing the insides of the portal, when a voice echoed out.

"What the bloody hell is going on?"

The portal closed and that light, powdery magic Yuugi only just noticed now disappeared.

All his memories intact, the teen's thoughts echoed the one of the mysterious voice. _What the bloody hell is going on?_

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

2,302 words especially for you guys! Sorry for the months-long wait!

I've changed the title. New Soul sounded too…strange. Now it's Hikari no Mahoutsukai. xJ Light Wizard, or Wizard of Light, or so I hope. xP I'm none all too familiar with stringing together Japanese phrases.

**First before I jumble up your minds with my complicated paragraphs of death, let me make this clear: **Unlike Yami's rooms within his room, Yuugi's rooms are filled with modern technology, like beds, stoves, baths, sinks, food, and all of that. I'm not just writing this in because I feel like writing this in, I'm writing this in because I have plans for the house within room later on in the story. I'm done. You may now review. n-n

C(-).(-)O …IT'S A RACOON-PANDA THING! MUHAHAHA! PH34R ITS PWNAGE! If you don't review, I'll sick him on you. BWUHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! When he wakes up… /cough cough/


	5. Arrival Escort

Thanks to me reviewers! I lubbs yah all! . /huggles/

**Dragon2900**, **Everyone's Anti-Valentine**, **Hikari Skysong**, **DarkWings13**, **Kitroku**, and **Peter Kim**

Dragon2900 – /le gasp/ Really? Thanks! . /is happy because fic is on faves/

Peter Kim – Hn…well I usually frown upon Jou, Anzu, and Honda going to Hogwarts, because they're not really magical beings, and all, but I'll find a way to put them in. And I also don't…know how duels actually work, so there won't be much dueling going on. Sorry. /sheepish grin/ I don't know what I'll do with Seto, though yet.

DarkWings13 – Well, Ryou and Malik-kuns are totally going to Hoggywarsh! No doubt about that. But as students… /cough/ I don't think so. n-n Seeing that they're nineteen and all… But they ARE going to Hogwarts. You'll see what they're up to to help the wizards.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

_Harry quickly stashed the package into the pocket of his robes, mentally telling himself never to use it, whatever it was, even if Snape tried to attack him with a blowtorch, sword, or an Unforgivable Curse. He would NOT risk anything to make Sirius come to Hogwarts, or be caught._

_Harry then opened his mouth, to warn Sirius not to do anything stupid or reckless, but the said godfather shoved another item into Harry's hands._

_"Take this too, Harry."_

_Harry looked down and saw a wrapped up, rectangular box-shaped item in his hands. "What is it?"_

_"I can't say much right now, because I don't think Molly, Arthur, Remus, Albus, and a bunch of other people will approve of what this is, and what it does. But all I can say is that this will help you in your task against Voldemort."_

_"Hey, but I-"_

_"Ah, ah, ah," Sirius interrupted, waggling his finger at Harry childishly, but serious nonetheless. "I know you don't want to defeat Voldemort, and be the Gold Boy of the wizarding world, but whether you want to or not, you know you have to. You can choose not to do anything, and I'm okay with that, seeing that it's your life that's on the line if you do try to destroy Voldemort, but just promise me you'll finish it, Harry."_

_"Finish what--?"_

_"You'll know when you open it as Hogwarts. Promise me, Harry," Sirius disrupted again, more force in his voice this time._

_"I promise, I guess…"_

_"That's a good boy, Harry. Now go on with Remus and Tonks."_

_Harry opened his mouth again to advise his godfather not to do anything risky, but he was pulled into a one-armed hug. "Ah…uh…"_

_"Take care of yourself, Harry. And remember to keep your promise. G'bye."_

_"Oh, but--"_

_"Harry, hurry up," Remus called from the group of red-haired Weasley children and Hermione. "The Knight Bus is here."_

_"But Sirius--"_

_"C'mon Harry!" Ron and the twins bellowed affably. "We're freezin' our arses off!"_

_"G'bye, Sirius," Harry sighed, giving up and trying to sound happy to cover the sadness of his failure._

Harry glared at the golden container, cringing slightly as the eye engraved into the side of the box glared back at him with an unblinking stare. (Trust me, Harry-dear, if it blinked, you'd be even more freaked out. X-x) What was he supposed to do with this box? It was pretty heavy, and it jingled and clacked a lot. He had no idea what was inside. Deciding it was safer to leave its contents be, remembering all the other Dark…stuff…collecting dust in the House of Black, he had stuffed it into his trunk alongside Sirius' mirror. He had earlier assured himself that he would check out the inside of the box right after Christmas break in his spare when he was still in school- before the Department of Mysteries, meaning before Sirius' death. After that, he wasn't so sure if he would be able to face the present.

But Sirius' words made him remember what he had promised.

"…This will help you in your task against Voldemort. … Just promise me you'll finish it, Harry."

He'd promise to 'finish it'. Now those words spiked Harry's intense curiosity. Finish what exactly? Today, the night after returning to Privet Drive, he would finally find out.

Harry pried the golden lid open, having to do a little, tricky pushing down, then pulling up movement before successfully opening the box.

Gold… The deep, glittering solid sparkled magnificently in the dull, white glow of his reading light. He picked up a dainty piece of gold and held it up to his face in interest whilst he pushed up his circular glasses, for they had slid down the bridge of his nose. There were little jags in the piece, which made it look a lot like a part of--

"A puzzle!" Harry said cheerfully. He sifted through the rest of the jingling puzzle pieces in the box only to see similar jags in the jigs. "Why would Sirius give me a puzzle and say it would help me against Voldemort?" Harry asked himself aloud. Hedwig hooted, as if agreeing to Harry's question.

Harry then spotted an off-white square at the side of the box. Using his nails, he scratched at the top of it and discovered it was a piece of folded-up parchment. Eyes widening in curiosity and surprise, he unfolded it, instantly recognizing the familiar penmanship of his late godfather.

**_Dear Harry,_**

You must think I'm an old nut right now, but believe it or not, I'm almost completely sure this puzzle will help you in the fight against Voldemort. I got it off a creepy guy in a turban and robes named Shadi. He says one old nutter of a pharaoh locked half his soul in this puzzle to stop this weirdo 'Shadow Magic' from taking over the world, and let the other half go to be reborn. And then it did, so his 'incarnation' was this midget kid named Yuugi Mutou.

And then the Millennium Puzzle, as it's called, came to Yuugi all jumbled up and broken because the soul halves of the pharaoh's soul were supposed to be untied, and Yuugi put the Puzzle together. So then the second half of the pharaoh's soul, named Yami, was united with his hikari (as Marik and Shadi put it- I dunno what a hikari is) and they worked together to save Japan from all this crazy stuff. Then there were these four years that Shadi calls the 'Shadow Wars,' in which Yuugi and Yami and their friends fought against all these crazy people who (and I directly quote) "made Voldemort look like a big, fluffy, pink kitty with a butter knife." That Marik-guy seemed pretty serious…

And I later learned that 'Shadows' came from his completely different dimension/realm. Using Shadow Magic, Shadi says you can summon these bloody freaky monsters, steal souls, and a whole bunch of other crazy stuff. I'm finally getting to my point: This is the same, exact Puzzle Yuugi had, except Yuugi's soul's in it now because Yami's moved on to the afterlife. You can use its powers- and Yuugi's help- to defeat Voldemort.

But there's a little snag I doubt you'd like: Yami usually took control of Yuugi's body when things got too tough, so I think Yuugi'll do the same. It's a sort of hero thing they all have in common. But Shadi's assured me that Yuugi would never take over your body for more than the necessary time it takes to protect you and the people around you. And he'll give you full control when you ask except when he knows it's too dangerous. I know you don't like people trying to mollycoddle you and treat you like a child, but we all just want you to be safe.

Be nice to Yuugi- because you'll be stuck with him until Voldemort's dead. HAH! No, I'm just kidding. (-/Insert little happy face here/-)

Oh, right, and when you meet Yuugi, could you tell him Shadi, Marik, and everyone else says hi and that they miss him? Thanks. n-n I should really be ending this letter now. O-O It's so long… Hand cramp, hand cramp… Oooowwwwwwwwiiieeeee…

_(Harry chuckled here at his godfather's exaggeration.)_

Well, I'll see you at summer break, and finish that puzzle.

P.S. Please be friendly to Yuugi and don't tell any short jokes. I hear he's scary when it comes to height…

**_From, Sirius_**

Harry stared at the letter in a dumbfounded silence. That was it, it seemed. His godfather had gone insane and had one Azkaban flashback too many. Shrugging the oddity of Sirius' story away, he looked down at the box of Puzzle pieces. Was there really the soul of a person in there, ready to awaken at the reassembling of the Puzzle?

Harry shook his head and began to carefully empty the box, placing each piece into prim rows and columns of six. No matter to strange story behind the 'Millennium Puzzle', Harry would not break his promise to Sirius, even if he was dead.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

And so Harry worked on the Puzzle- night and day, day and night- with such meticulous, painstaking care that it nearly turned into an obsession. …Until the day a handsome tawny owl bearing the Hogwarts crest arrived at his window, clicking its beak in impatience. It had been waiting for about two minutes until it irritably started pecking at the window with sharp raps.

Harry looked up with a start, nearly dropping the two Puzzle pieces in his hand. "Oh, sorry." He put down the piece of gold and leaned over a pile of spell books to unclasp the window latch. Sliding window open, he moved away to grant the tawny owl entrance. The said owl swooped over Harry's head and dropped a rolled-up letter onto his desk. Just before exiting, it sent Harry a glare and an angry click of its beak.

"Sorry," Harry repeated sheepishly at the tawny's retreating tail. He closed and locked the window and looked down at the letter, picking it up.

Same old wax seal. Harry broke the seal with ease and observed the parchment. Same old curling parchment. He unrolled the yellowing parchment and surveryed the writing.

The wizard's stunning emerald eyes bugged out. The handwriting was very familiar, and the round, loopy signature only confirmed Harry's suspicion. He quickly read and reread the letter from Albus Dumbledore, different emotions swelling in his gut.

Dumbledore was coming to pick him up at 11:00 sharp, Friday for the rest of break! But what if he didn't come? Doubt blossomed in Harry's mind.

Putting the letter down, the glitter of golden jags caught his eye again. Anyway, if Dumbledore didn't come, he could always work on the Puzzle. All was right in the world.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Three days passed with no significant incident- unless you counted when Dudley and his gang threw rocks at Hedwig on one of her nightly aerial voyages, thus causing some extreme pecking to be thrown their way. Harry chose to leave everything he would need for school in their normal places, meaning strewn all over the floor, cluttering the desk, half in and half out of his trunk, and under his bed. It was no use to pack up everything when there was a possibility that Dumbledore would not come.

Harry was currently slumped over his desk; head uncomfortably resting on a Puzzle piece, while in his hands was the 1/5 finished Millennium Puzzle. Near his mouth was Dumbledore's letter, fluttering away when he exhaled, and fluttering closer when he inhaled.

Downstairs, the old Dursley grandfather clock chimed eleven, and Harry's own digital alarm clock gained a minute. Whilst all the time-measuring gadgets changed, outside Harry's frosted window, something peculiarly familiar to another night nearly sixteen years ago happened: the glowing light of the lamppost mysteriously went out. Perhaps victim to a wizarding item that looked strikingly like a Muggle cigarette lighter?

Harry shifted in his seat, head moving along with his body. The sudden movement caused him to roll off the Puzzle piece, and the wizard sighed contently. He went limp as the sleep deepened, incidentally causing him to drop the Puzzle only his foot. Reminder: gold is heavy.

"Youch! You bloody—" The disgruntled Harry awoke with a start, noting both throbs of vague pain from his foot and cheek, where a reddish imprint of a Puzzle piece was visible. He rubbed the branded cheek with distaste as his lens-sheilded eyes caught the time. Eleven o'clock on the dot. Where was Dumble-

_Ding-dong_

Harry's eyes widened. He came! He began to madly pack at the speed of light, shoving anything magical, and everything visible into his trunk. He ushered each Puzzle piece into the box and placed it carefully on top of everything else in his trunk, snapping the lock shut.

"BOY! GET DOWN HERE!"

Harry beamed. Sometimes his uncle was just too predictable.

Harry shoved his door wide open after dropping his trunk beside Hedwig's occupied cage and bounded down the stairs two by two. He quickly walked quickly to the living room, passing through the kitchen, and stopped by the tiled counter.

Albus Dumbledore stood in the doorway, smiling as pleasantly as always, his sky blue twinkling-machine eyes…twinkling. "Hello there, Harry. Summer all right?"

"I suppose," Harry shrugged reasonably.

"Good, good to hear. Now, as it is only considerably boorish to leave a visitor standing out in the cold, we shall pretend you graciously invited me in." Dumbledore smiled politely at Uncle Vernon, who was clenching the doorknob so tightly Harry thought he might just crunch it by brute strength, and let himself in. The sorcerer took an instigated seat on the couch and motioned for everyone else to do the same.

Harry quickly complied, sitting in a rather tall stool-chair by the tiled counter and facing the occupants of the room; the Dursleys, who all had their shrewd, little eyes on the mahogany-colored wand in Dumbledore's hand, precariously sunk down into the sofa opposite to the headmaster.

"Before we leave, Harry, I have an important topic to discuss with your guardians." Dumbledore conjoured five glasses of iced tea and magicked them to each person. Harry took his gratefully out of thin air and sipped a liberal amount. The anti-magic Dursley's, however, grudgingly ignored the refreshments, even when the icy glasses began to insistently force themselves at their faces.

"Well then," Dumbledore said conversationally, "I think our first matter at hand is…"

(I don't really like this part. B-o-r-i-n-g. Let's just skip it, okay? 'Kay!)

"Now then," Dumbledore concluded, "it's about time we get going. Got your trunk, Harry?"

"Yeah…it's upstairs." Harry ran back up the stairs to retrieve his stuff, and returned downstairs and into the living room again within a minute, lugging both Hedwig's cage and his trunk.

(This part is boring too. You know what's here if you've read HBP. Some stuff about going back to the Dursley's before 17…blah blah blah.)

"Good," Dumbledore concluded again. "Now we must be setting off, Harry. I'll magic your owl's cage to the Burrow, and feather-light your trunk- you might be needing things in it." So then…he did.

Harry's eyes widened as he noticed something disgustingly black and singed holding Dumbledore's wand and waving it around. _Bloody-_ Harry thought. _It's his hand!_ "Sir…what happened to your hand?" He pointed to the black hand to emphasize his point.

"Oh…you'll learn in good time, Harry. But now we must leave."

Harry shrugged. "Okay then, Professor. Bye…Uncle Vernon…and everyone…"

"…Bye, boy," Uncle Vernon replied stiffly.

Harry followed the headmaster of Hogwarts out the door. They walked down the street a couple of blocks until Dumbledore stopped all of a sudden. Harry bumped into him and dropped his trunk on Dumbledore's foot.

"Sorry!" Harry said in both apology and surprise.

"Not a problem," Dumbledore said patiently. "Feather-light, remember?"

Harry nodded and ducked his head to retrieve the trunk again. "So what are we doing here?"

"We have two detours before we get you to the Burrow. I'm going to Apparate us to the first destination, stay for a while, and go to the next. Now, as I am done explaining… Grab my arm and hold tight. Mind you, letting go will drop you off halfway to our intention."

Harry nodded and held onto Dumbledore's non-blackened hand with one hand and held his trunk with the other as the headmaster waved his wand. If anyone happened to be looking, there would be nothing to look at, for the two wizards had disappeared with a _crack_.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

2,611 words for you guys again! Ph34r m3h 4nd m4h m4d pwn1ng sk1ll5! No, I have no mad pwning skills. /sigh/ Ignore me… /slinks away/

Four Yu-Gi-Oh characters will be introduced to Dumbydore and our Golden Boy in the next chapter, so stay tuned! . /shakes fist threateningly/ Stay tuned, I tells yah! STAY TUNED!

C(-).(-)O…is back again! Let's give him a name, eh? How about…Arnold? Like Ginny's Pygmy Puff? Yay! Go Arnold! n-n NOW REVIEW OR ARNOLD WILL EAT J00! BWUHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Take that. xJ


	6. Foreign Ministry Woes

Reviewers thankfully not eaten by Arnold:

**Kitroku**, **Everyone's Anti-Valentine**, **Darkrose Dragonkin**, **Miko102**,** Atemu Yugi Lover34**, **Tira's Host**, and **Hikari Skysong**

Kitroku: . /goggles/ Whoa, and you review quickly. Forty-five minutes after I uploaded the fifth chapter, to be exact. n-n

Hikari Skysong: Yup. /nods/ Who else but the prestigious Yuugi Mutou can steer Harry away from being such a sixth-year maniac? X3 Well, I'm making Harry finish it before the year starts because…um…if not, then, there'd be no Yuugi. T-T It's only going to take him the whole summer break (how fast…). We'll just pretend he had some sort of magical pull towards the Puzzle and finished it super fast. n-n Plus, he promised Sirius, and not wanting to break the promise, finished it…super fast. xP

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Disclaimer: I don't own anything at all.

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Ryou, Malik, Bakura, and Marik are all twenty. I'm lost with the time now… Whatever, the end. Well…Bakura may not be, but whatever. /slinks away/ YOU GO READ NOW.

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"Terribly sorry," Dumbledore apologized as Harry held his spinning head. "I suppose I should have warned you of the aftermath of Apparation."

"S'okay," Harry said, standing up straight to balance himself out. His head finally decided to stop turning; he shook it to clear out the haze and took the time to look around. "Professor…where are we?"

They were in front of a normal-looking apartment complex. Stamped on a neon, flashing sign were foreign characters- Chinese? Korean? Japanese?

_Honestly,_ Harry thought. _They all look the same._

"We're in Japan," Dumbledore replied simply.

"_Japan?_"

Dumbledore just smiled, nodded, and led Harry up the outdoor stairway. "Keep an eye out for door 213… Ah, here it is." He knocked on the door three times, waiting until a crimson pupil appeared in the peephole.

The door was forcibly wrenched open and a blonde with bronze-colored skin stood in the threshold. "What do you want, old man?" he snarled.

Dumbledore seemed unabashed at the _very_ host-like greeting and held his wand over his heart. "All gods are good, but Ra is just plain scary," he recited, lips twitching in amusement.

"Oh." The crimson-eyed blonde studied Dumbledore up and down. He then turned his head to inside the apartment and yelled, "Ryou! Malik! The crazy old wizard coot you kept yakking about is here!"

"Is he right in front of you?" a British-sounding voice called out.

"Yeah—ow!" The blonde held the back of his head, wincing slightly, for he had been whapped by another bleach blonde who could have easily been his twin, save the les-crazy lavender eyes and the less-wild hairdo. "What was that for, Malik?"

'Malik' scowled. "Baka. What have I taught you? You insult a person when they turn their backs, not when you turn yours."

"And the right thing to do was teach your dark _not_ to insult one, whether his/their back is turned, or he's facing their actually face." It was the owner of the British-sounding voice. He had friendly chocolate-colored eyes and both pale skin and hair. "And however much I would like to stand here and scold you both on your highly _mannered_ views on how to _insult_ people, we have guests. Hello, Dumbledore-san, Potter-san."

"Ryou, there is no need for such formalities. You and I are, like everyone else I know, equals outside the academy. Call me Albus, and this is Harry."

"Ah, very well then." 'Ryou' bustled Malik and the other blonde out of the way to leave room in the doorway and led Dumbledore and Harry to a dining room.

Malik, who was following them, sent Harry a furtive glance. "Ahem… S'cuse me, Albus…but I think it is in everyone's best interest if the…minor…were to wait outside?"

Ryou nodded on agreement, not looking up from the table, where he was pouring tea into traditional porcelain China.

Harry was about to open his mouth and object when Dumbledore spoke.

"I'm afraid I agree with Misters Ryou and Malik. Don't worry, Harry, it's nothing significant to you. It's just a little Hogwarts surprise we wouldn't want to spoil for you."

Harry shut his mouth and nodded wordlessly.

"There's a sitting room just next door you can wait in while we discuss these…matters." Ryou showed Harry through some double doors and shut them in Harry's face.

The said wizard was left alone in a lighted room, complete with a TV, couch, chairs, table, and all that. He sat on the nearest couch and twiddled his fingers absently. Vaguely thinking inviting himself to the TV was boorish and ill mannered, his thoughts drifted to the Puzzle.

Surely the meeting would last more than half an hour? He would have enough time to assemble at least a few pieces…

He unlocked his trunk and extracted the heavy, golden box. For some strange reason, as if there were a special vibe, or magic in the room, once he touched a Puzzle piece, happiness and familiarity, towards something Harry could not understand, flooded through him.

With that in mind, he eagerly began to work on the Puzzle.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Once Ryou took a seat beside Malik, opposite to Dumbledore's side of the table, he began to speak. "Now, Albus… You contacted us through…owl, was it?…about these reports you have received throughout some last four years."

"Yes," Dumbledore confirmed. "Seeing that Europe's Ministry of Magic has its hands full with Voldemort, we have not been paying attention to our foreign comrades. Why, in the USA, the American wizards' Muggles are having quite a war, thus causing paranoia and suspicion to cloud the air. A tiny flicker of fire produced from the tip of a wand could be easily tracked with their 'machines' and viewed as a sort of terrorism.

But this strays from my point. I must apologize for ignoring Minister Kimihiro Waya's (XP I got these two separate names from Hikaru no Go, then squashed them together to make the Japanese Minister of Magic x-X) letters for those past four years. There was much havoc at Hogwarts, what with Harry, the Stone, the Chamber, the Dementors, and the Tournament. And although it is out of my usual air to insult our able ministry, they're all a bunch of senile Crum bums, save a selected few."

"Tea?" Ryou asked, pushing a cup on a saucer across the table to Dumbledore's side. "While we appreciate your apology, most sincere, we-"

"We don't know what the heck it's for," Malik interrupted.

Dumbledore raised the steaming cup to his parched lips and took a silent swig before placing it back onto its saucer. "Mr. Waya's letters were most colorful, if I may say so myself. Warning of vast monsters with teeth and talons the size of whole hippogriffs, a blackness in the air thicker that imported Peruvian Instant Darkness Power and more lethal than a sky-blotching band of Dementors, random evil laughter ringing out of nowhere and filling the air, kidnappings, killing, all things of that sort…"

Malik and Ryou exchanged unnoticed glances, the thought of being watched- by wizards, nonetheless- throughout all their escapades never occurring to them. (Giant monsters rampaging around Japan- who wouldn't come out to watch? Heh heh…I'm suddenly thinking of Godzilla…)

"…And how there were always these kids around after the monsters were banished away… Among them were three of the world's top duelists, their friends, the prestigious Domino Museum's curator, her brother, and _you._" Dumbledore's cerulean crests bore into both Ryou and Malik's eyes. "Two years after sending the first batches of letters, and receiving nothing so much as a speck of ink back, Waya decided to investigate himself. After a failed attempt to single-handedly save Japan and having to be saved by you, he wrote to us again. He claimed a tall brunette called him an idiot who, if he didn't get out of the way at that instant, would be personally kidnapped and castrated for getting in your ways." Dumbledore's lips twitched again.

"He would have been attacked by the dragon, otherwise," Ryou reasoned fairly. "He just kept brandishing that stupid wand of his and claiming he and his wizard officials would take care of it. He needed some _insistive_ motivation. Seto only wanted to save his brother… I suppose he got a little carried away."

"Well, after the fourth year passed, the letters stopped coming. We figured all was good in Japan, and all was forgotten. But just last year, at the beginning of the school year, I received a note from my brother, Aberforth, who was vacationing in Domino City, Japan. He wrote me a strange little note about a lethal-looking albino who conjured a bottle of soda out of thin air. The thing though, was that he had no wand. Instead, his hand glowed black and the bottle simply…appeared. And though wandless magic is possible, one's hand does not usually glow black."

"Baka! All for some _soda_?" Ryou grumbled inaudibly to himself.

"Aberforth, however touched in the head he was, was not a fool. Curious with this black magic that was not necessarily Dark Magic, he went to the Japanese Ministry of Magic in Tokyo. There he found you. Well, not you, to literally put it, but it might as well have been. Every fact of your life, every hobby, every step, every breath- it was all there in files. I suppose Waya sent spies after you, set with Disillusionment Charms tofind out what was so special about you _all_."

Ryou and Malik exchanged worried glances.

"An invasion of privacy, yes, but it I all for protection measures. Just as Harry is to Europe, you seemed to be Japan's saviors, so it was only natural to stalk you." (Japan has a lot of saviors... Look at all those mangas- four out of five mangas you randomly pick off the shelf have a hero trying to save the world in them...)The twitch of amusement that never left Dumbledore's face was then replaced with one of sternness. "Aberforth's letter was quite a wake-up call. We wizards are quite weak compared to your magic. We can make things change color, turn them into animals, and petty things of that sort, but what we view as the highest of the Dark Arts is obviously child play to you- stealing souls, summoning monstrous creatures of the dark…"

"Your praise flatters us, Albus," Malik started. "However, I see no aim to your true means of coming here. There are complete, life-long files on us in Tokyo made by some idiotic, stalking 'Minister of Magic,' your brother's an oddball, we have more magic than you wizards could only dream of… If you would most kindly get to your point _soon_, I would most kindly _not_ set the Shadows on you.

Dumbledore, despite the number of times he had been threatened before, could sense that this was no empty intimidation. He inhaled sharply and let the breath out slowly, swirling the cool dregs of his tea around in the cup. "Was this Zork-person from 1998 powerful?" he finally asked.

"You could say so," Ryou shrugged, cutting off Malik, who seemed just about ready to snap at the elderly wizard again. "He was quite an adversary."

Dumbledore nodded and linked his fingers together, a habit he had developed after sitting in a Headmaster's desk for a good many years. "If I told you that nearly sixteen years ago, there was a Dark Lord who was close to Europe domination, and shot a killing curse at an infant, only to have to rebound and render the lord barely alive, what would you say?"

"I would say nothing," Malik stated first in a steady tone. "Nothing until I hear the entire story, of course."

"Ah, but Malik, that would stray far from my subject, would it not?" Dumbledore's eyes twinkled as the Egyptian sputtered, apparently thinking up a good comeback. He failed, instead settling for scowling and muttering, "Damare, nekkyou no toshiyori…" (Shut up, crazy old man...)

Ryou candidly elbowed Malik in the rib, smiling at Dumbledore casually. "What Malik-kun was _trying_ to say is that we'd love to hear your story."

"And I would love to tell it to you. But an old man like myself does not get information by handing out his stories like customary lemon drops. (Lemon drops stick to your teeth. It's annoying...) Perhaps we could swap stories?" Dumbledore suggested. "There's only so much Aberforth can tell me about your history."

Ryou and Malik exchanged another set of glances, this time questioning. As if a whole conversation was clearly written out on their faces, they reasoned out the pros and cons of revealing their story.

Malik looked away from the visual conversation first, his untrusting (and annoyed) eyes raking across Dumbledore's face.

"Deal."

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Harry sensed a sudden sense of forbidding lingering in the atmosphere. The back of his neck pricked cautiously, a lot like it did before something dire happened…

He put the Puzzle piece in his hand back into the box and stashed the completed part by his leg. Looking around shiftily, he realized the entire room was empty, save for himself.

_I'm more paranoid than Moody himself,_ Harry mused to himself.

The emerald-eyed wizard removed the lid of the Puzzle box again to continue, but a large, off-white square similar to Sirius' first note caught his eye. He hadn't noticed it before, but then again, he had never taken the time to look at things taped to the top of the lid.

He pulled the parchment out, unsticking the tape and placing it onto his sleeve, and unfolded it. To his surprise, seven small cards fluttered out onto his lap. He looked down at the parchment, where a letter was written in color changing ink in Sirius' familiar writing.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Ooga booga, I am a…rawr. Here's your update- Va-va-voom!

Next chapter: Harry reads about the story behind Duel Monsters while Dumbledore makes a proposition.

C(-).(-)O is like wh00sh! Now review, or he'll climb up your leg and bite your shin. n-n Heh heh… Bye-bye now…


	7. The Proposition

People who did not get Arnold-rabies on their shins (I honestly try to get him treated, but that foaming of the mouth looks so cute! O.o):

**Saetan Daemon SaDiablo**, **Dartz'LoyalServant**, **Kitroku**, **Psycho Demon-Witch**, **Everyone's Anti-Valentine**, **Peter Kim**, **Miko102**, **Hikari Skysong**, **ILoveYami4ever**, **Shinigami**, and **silverkitcat**

Saetan Daemon SaDiablo: Yay! Story alert! . /happy dance and huggles/

Peter Kim: I wrote you a giant review reply filled with my stupidity. I erased the entire thing. Now I shall simply answer your questions. XDDD Yes, this is HP and the HBP-incorporated. I do not watch YGO/GX, so no, this is not a crossover between the two generations. I watch the dubbed American anime, but I use the Japanese names because they're jaded into my head, so if you see crap about the Shadow Realm or events that weren't in the Japanese anime, ignore it and go into bad-dub-mode. I will learn to duel eventually, for I have found my sister's rule book.

Hikari Skysong: Yeah, Dumb-dude-dore never has that air of trepidation. It's annoying. X.x But then again…the yamis will wipe that ever-presently-calm smile off his face… /cackles like an evil villain o.O/

Shinigami: Oh…I never realized I had Harry spiraling towards the darkness. I just had his personality go along with the sixth book. He didn't seem to want to break things, and he didn't want to kill Dumbledore. After all, he later believed it was his own fault for killing Sirius, so he was angrier with himself. Then he believed it was a little of Dumbledore's fault, but pushed that aside, for all his anger was then towards Bellatrix and Voldy-pants. In the sixth book, he didn't seem all that mad, though I thought he would be, too, he wasn't. xP And Horcruxes, because Harry has to collect them…uh…because… I don't know why he has to collect them- Rowling never explained- or I just can't read correctly. n-n Oh, and the power? Guess what- it's love. x-X Isn't that…a bit queer? XPPP

Silverkitcat: Neither can I! I'm going to give Harry a giant scare. XPP Naw- I don't think I want Yami to enter. XPP There will be parts where Yuugi feels a strange presence near him (/cough/ Yami /uncough/), and flooding of regret and guilt (/cough/ Yami is sorry for doing that to Yuugi /uncough/), but I guess that's it. n-n I'm thinking of something to do with the veil of doom, but there's nothing yet.

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Oh, and also, I'd like to thank those late reviewers who reviewed some earlier chapters after I uploaded the next chapters, so I never got a chance to thank them for their reviews. Thanks to **dark sorceress of Egypt**for reviewing chapter four, **ILoveYami4ever** for reviewing chapter one, **yamisgirl13 **for reviewing chapter five, **Atemu Yugi Lover34 **for reviewing chapter four (Yeah, I've seen the Shounen Jump magazines, but I've never picked one up in my life. XP Unless to put them back on the shelf because they fell, or something…xDD).

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Oh my gosh. I can't believe new people are reading and sometimes reviewing this story. After all, aren't the first two chapters crap? X-x Bye now. I've finally decided to revise chapters one and two, so…yeah.

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/-Bakura-/  
/Ryou/  
_/-Marik-/_  
_/Malik/_

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Enough of my annoying talking- on with the chapter! And I don't not own nothing.

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Harry picked up a card that had landed on the floor and eyed it curiously. The bug-like creature's glowing, lantern eyes glared right at Harry, dull green, armoured body shining with a glow effect. Horrible blade-like talons protruded from the beast's armoured feet and hands, sharp as daggers.

Another one Harry retrieved from partly under the couch was of a man clad in a bluish, full-body, muscle outfit and a red, flowing skirt-like-thing. Red armour sat atop his shoulders, and one blade per side protruded from each shoulder-plate. He wore a strange hat-thing with spikes jutting out from the front, like sharp, gray blinkers a horse would wear to blind it from whatever was on its left and right. He held a long, fiery sword right at Harry, eyes squinted in ferocity.

A third card bore a magenta-colored elf-like creature with dull, emotionless eyes and pointed ears. She wore an indigo cloak over scarlet, fastened to her waist with a golden rope. In her manicured hand was a long staff; on its tip was a crescent moon, with a sphere floating in its center.

The next was of a well-built man who seemed to be laden with metal. He wore camouflage cargo pants, with the bottoms tucked into black combat boots, and carried a machine gun sort of thing. There were silver-gray machines positioned on his shoulders, a blade sheathed to the back of his belt, and some sort of gear covering his nose and mouth.

The fifth was a giant, golden bird-monster-thing with sharp talons and monstrous wings. The entire thing seemed to be made of metal. In the background was bright, fire-like lightning. (I didn't describe the WDoR very well… xP)

Harry dug another card out of the crack in between two cushions. This one was of a blonde woman in a loose, aqua-blue robe. One half of her body looked like one of an angel's, complete with a bright background and feathery wings, while the other half resembled that of a devil, bat-like wings bursting from her back. In her cupped hands was a floating heart, each side a different color.

The last card Harry found right on his lap was of a blue and white dragon. It had glowing bluish-white eyes and wings that looked like they were made of titanium steel. It had sharp, shiny talons and rows of pointed teeth.

With growing, interest, Harry closed the Puzzle box again, this time including the pieces he had already completed, and placed it back into his trunk.

_Wonder what the story is behind these cards… _Harry pondered.

**_Hiya Harry, n-n_**

Did it take you long it find this? I needed to keep these cards safe, just in case anyone decided to take this box from you. If anyone but you or someone you trust took this, both you and I would be in major trouble. XO They're really important, so don't lose 'em. …Or else all of Yuugi's friends will go psycho on your British arse. And I'm not just saying that, so watch out.

You see, I'm not Mr. Japanese Man of the Month, but Shadi and Marik gave me the translations. The one on the top of the pile is the Blue Eyes White Dragon. After that is the Flame Swordsman, followed by the Cyber Commander, the Magician of Faith, the Change of Heart, the Man-Eater Bug, and finally, the Winged Dragon of Ra.

(Harry restacked the cards after matching each name with each picture. The blue and white dragon went first, followed by the guy in the red dress and fiery sword, the man with the machine gun, the elf with the staff, the angel/demon thing, the green, armoured monster, and lastly, the golden griffin-thing.)

I suppose I should explain these cards more thoroughly.

In Japan, there's a card game called Duel Monsters. The aim of the game is to use your monsters' (the cards) strength to knock out your opponent's life points. You may be wondering what this has anything to do with anything, but it actually has everything to do with anything! Uhm…I'll explain now.

In Ancient Egypt, where this game surprisingly originated, the pharaohs used to play this game- well, at least a primordial version of it, anyway. They used huge stone tablets in place of cards and actually summoned the monsters to real life. Sound familiar? Yep, they used Shadow Magic (back then, it was as common to the people in very high castes as magic is to purebloods- not that I have something against half-bloods or Muggleborns! I'm not a magic-racist! Not, not, NOT!).

Some archaeologists and an artist named Pegasus J. Crawford saw some ancient hieroglyphics depicting the monsters that were used. Pegasus decided to bring the ancient game to modern life. Drawing up each monster, he created rules to the game.

Again, this must seem like something you wouldn't care about, but it concerns that Millennium Puzzle you have.

I never did tell you how Yuugi and Yami saved Japan from crazy maniacs: They dueled. Nope, not a wizard's duel, a game of cards- THE game of cards. Weird, huh? Most of the time, their opponents summoned the Shadows to influence the game, so the monsters, while originally holograms projected by Kaiba Corp equipment, would be real, live beings with the ability to cause you both physical and mental damage. The loser of the Shadow Game, as they called it, would lose their soul.

Yuugi's best friends all played Duel Monsters and they each contributed their favorite cards as a tribute to him. That's why you'll get mauled if you lose any one of them. n-n Fun, eh?

Maybe Yuugi'll teach you how to use the Shadows and you can set that ferocious-looking dragon on Malfoy… Shh, don't tell Molly or Albus or anyone else I said that. Though, they wouldn't know what you were talking about… You _did_ stop yourself from telling them about the Puzzle, right?

Well…um…I guess I've explained everything for the moment. I'll see you.

_**From, Sirius**_

Harry arched a questioning eyebrow down at the parchment, as waiting for it to give him an answer to the puzzle of his late godfather's sanity (yet again). He shook his head at the possibility of saving the world with a card game. Sure, he could believe a golden triangle held a spirit with crazy 'Shadow Magic,' and that that magic summoned monsters, but a world-saving card game…?

He looked up when a traditional sliding door on the wall to his left slid open. In its threshold stood the spiky-haired blonde who had opened the door in that very hostly way. He wasn't as crazy looking now, Harry observed with relief and amusement.

"Hi," Harry said uncertainly. "I'm…Harry- Harry Potter."

"'Name's Marik," the blonde responded with a curt nod of his head.

_Where have I heard that name before?_ Harry wondered. _I swear it sounds familiar…_

"Wat'cha doin'?" Marik asked in a less hostile-sounding voice.

"Just-" Harry searched for words to describe what he was doing without expelling the secret. "I'm just reading a…friend's letter about…a game he learned about."

Marik nodded knowingly, even allowing a slight smile to grace his lips. "I had a friend who loved games."

"Oh…do you still keep in touch with him?" Harry questioned.

"Nope," Marik replied easily, chuckling brightly. "He's practically dead."

Harry blinked. "Oh. I'm…sorry?"

"Nah." Marik waved a dismissive hand. "I'll bet you his _spirit'll_ start haunting us from _beyond_ the grave…" The not-so-normal blonde began to cackle in a not-so-sane way.

Harry arched an eyebrow and tried to cover his ears.

"Marik!" someone- most likely Malik- yelled from the other room. "Shut up and get your sorry Egyptian butt in here!"

Marik twiddled his thumbs absentmindedly and whistled a low tune.

"Aren't you going to go?"

Marik smirked. "I like to make him wait-"

"GET IN HERE OR DIE!"

Harry winced whilst Marik shouted, "Ore-sama is coming, hikari-pretty!" in a sickly high-pitched voice.

_Hikari? That's pretty familiar too…_

As Marik left the room, Harry felt the forbidding chill he had momentarily forgotten about leave with the Egyptian. (Meaning Marik is scary… /cough/ I mean…Marik was outside the door when Harry was working on the Puzzle, thus causing his scary-ness to leak in through the door. -.-)

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

"Ra, Yami, your laughter could wake the dead," Malik stated as his other half took a seat beside him.

"I'm sleepy, okay? Stop rubbing it in," Bakura grumbled.

"Yes, yes, that's all good and well," Ryou interrupted. "What we called you in here for was to discuss some matters Albus has in mind. We though it best if everyone were to hear it at once, as to refrain from confusion and questions. Go on, Albus."

Dumbledore nodded. "Yes. Ryou and Malik have told me about everything that you have been up to in the last four years and I-"

"Hikari!" both Marik and Bakura thundered.

/-How much did you tell him?-/ Bakura demanded.

_/Not much/_ Malik replied fairly.

/-Get out of our link and hold a conversation with your own dark,-/ Bakura growled.

_/-Aw, come on, thief,-/_ Marik interjected. _/-You know what they say- four consciousnesses communicating through a mind link is better than any number higher or lower than four.-/_

/Who says that/ Ryou asked, stifling a snicker.

Bakura pouted. /-Why do you get to butt into our conversation? Can't we crash yours for once?-/

Malik mentally waggled his index finger. _/You're not the one with the mind-controlling item. We get special privileges with the Rod./_

/-Every man with a lover has special privileges with their rod,-/ Bakura mumbled.

/BAKURA/ Ryou exclaimed amidst Malik and Marik's howls of laughter. /None of that/ (Bleh. Sorry for the very-cliché Rod joke. -.-)

/-Heh…-/

Ryou mentally rolled his eyes as he offered Dumbledore another cup of lukewarm tea. /You're all so immature. And you forget we have a guest. He's probably wondering why your mouths are all open, why your eyes are glazed over…well; frankly, he's probably wondering why you look even more retarded than usual./

"Oh, don't mind them, Albus. They tend to do this a lot. You see, they were born with abnormal cell growths in their brains. Well, lack of cell growth would seem more appropriate…"

/-Was not…-/ Bakura growled, snapping from his trance, though keeping the connection intact. "Was not," he repeated aloud, reaching over to smack Ryou stubbornly.

But Ryou was too swift for the old thief and easily evaded the contact.

The pair of Rod-bearing Ishtars followed Bakura's suit (X out the failed attempt to smack Ryou…they got him good /evil grin/).

"Stupid bakas…" Ryou muttered, rubbing the back of his head.

"_Any_way," Malik continued, ignoring Ryou, "sorry about that. Tendency to spaz…"

Dumbledore simply inclined his head, knowing eyes twinkling. "Not a problem. Now, as I was saying, I…"

_/-So what did you tell him?-/_ Marik asked, not paying attention to Dumbledore…er, again.

Ryou gave a mental shrug, also zoning out on Dumbledore's voice. /Everything except for our mind links./

Bakura growled. /-You did WHAT? You can't trust some half-blind old man in a dress with our story.-/

_/He trusted us/_ Malik reasoned.

/-Like I care. Now he's probably going to try to steal out powers of something…-/ Bakura gasped. /-My Ringy-poo!-/ he exclaimed.

Ryou shook his head in embarrassment. /Don't worry, 'Kura. I have it under my sweatshirt./

_/He's not going to try and steal out powers, you know./_ Malik crossed his arms mentally. _/He's one of the most powerful wizards there are, he's told us. He's a generally okay guy, considering how much he talks. Geesh… And I'm sure he wouldn't want our powers to de-soul even his arch nemesis, Voldy./_

Bakura growled. /-That's not an excuse to tell him out life stories…-/

_/-Surely you didn't tell him about Yuugi's…condition, did you?-/_ Marik questioned, using his brain to contemplate on consequences for a change.

_/Now that we didn't do/ Malik replied coolly. /We told him that Yuugi died shortly after the Pharaoh made his return to the Afterlife. Wesure as hellcan'thave anyone- no matter the side they're on- looking for and stealing the Puzzle from its chosen one_

Ryou nodded. /Though you never said who the lucky person was, Marik./

Bakura arched a delicately groomed brow. /-Yes, Marik. Who is this mystery child?-/

Marik thought hard. He looked inside and caught grasp of the little bubble of memory that contained the name of the new Puzzle-holder. "His name is…" The bubble popped and Marik found himself clueless. "I don't remember."

Malik anime fell. Unfortunately, the shock was more powerful that he had predicted.

"Malik?"

All four Shadow Warriors (talk about stupid names… /sigh/) snapped back into reality. Malik was sprawled on the floor as a result of his anime fall, with Dumbledore peering down along the side of the table in concern.

"Malik?" he repeated again, adjusting his spectacles. "Are you alright?"

Marik let out a snort of laughter as Malik peeled himself from the floor effortlessly.

"Uh…yeah. There was a…tack- yeah a tack!- on my chair that I only noticed now… Yeah…a tack… Ow…?"

Ryou shook his head, hiding the amused twitch of his lips.

"Continue of with whatever you were rambling about," Bakura commanded as soon as everyone's bottoms were off a mysterious tack and on their cushioned seats. "We'll listen this time."

Dumbledore, who looked only slightly irritated that he hosts had been ignoring him the last two times he was trying to explain, scooted his teacup aside so that there was room for his arms, which were now primly folded in front of him. "I see that unless I refrain from my long speeches before my point, you will all doze off again." The wizened wizard smiled. "I'll just get to my point, then, eh? I want you four to be my Defense against the Dark Arts teachers."

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Oh gawd, I'm such a bad person. T-T I took so long on this freakin' chapter, and it was already written up and all. It was my laziness to type that took it so long. -- I'm sorry. T-T Plus I was all hyped up on my other pending oneshots, including a light shounen-ai ficlet and a long two-part sidestory to Collision. T-T

Next Chapter: The Ring and Rod-bearing Shadow Warriors debate with Dumbledore about the job as DADA teachers. And what's this? A Hogwarts army?

/gasp/ Arnold must make his inevitable debut! C(-).(-)O There. XDDD C(n).(-)O GASP! He winked at you! C(n).(n)O Now he's awake. YAY! Oh dear Ra. OO Arnold's a girl! Tune in for the soap-opera-ish conclusion in the next chapter. How will Arnold's drinking buddies deal with a girl in the bar? How will Arnold's mysterious FEMALE crush deal with a female for a boyfriend? Le gaspeoges! Stay tuned—

And don't forget to review.


	8. Ears, Eyes, and Eyelids

I'M SO SOOOORRRRRYYYYYY! DOOONNN'TT EAATTT MEEEE! I swear it was the ALIENS! They GOTTT me! And probed all the HnM ideas out of me! BLAME THEM! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Anywhoosle, I'd like to thank my reviewers! xD I don't deserve you all! ./sniffles in a corner about being such a non-updating biyatch/

**Darkrose Dragonkin**, _myself xDDD_, **yamisgirl13**, **yuri sasou**, **Miriku-Yami's Queen of the Nile-Yami no Hikari**, **Saetan Daemon SaDiablo**, **Kitroku**, **Tira's Host**, **The Insane Imortal Dragon**, **Twin Tails Speed**, **Crazy Hyper Lady**, **Hedwig the MilleniumOwl**, **kirallie**, **Isis the Sphinx**, and **Bakura'sLoyalServant**

Kirallie: Well, I guess they would, but it /is/ disassembled, so there may be less magic radiating from it, compared to when it's put together.

Bakura'sLoyalServant: Chapter after next. 8D …I think. O.o And Baku-Baku hasn't stolen it because 1) he doesn't know who has it, and 2) he's good now. xD Yay for protagonist Bakura!

n-n

/-Bakura-/  
/Ryou/  
_--Marik--  
-Malik-_

n-n

Anyways, this chapter is dedicated to **_Hedwig the MilleniumOwl_** and her very own raccoon panda thingy, Pwn! C().()O …Erk… I'm sure the eyes aren't going to show up (damn FF story formatting…), but they're those uber cute up arrow things that you can make with the shift and 6 keys. She's reviewed all seven chapters (even the ebil third chapter /gasp of doom/), each making me laugh. She's even created her own raccoon panda thingy! Hail it!

Also, kudos to **Isis the Sphinx**, who has decided to WRITE A FIC ON THE SHADOW WARS. OMFG. XDDD So go read it, 'cause it's already out! ./glomp/ And she's also kicked my sorry arse back into HnM-writing-gear. Thank her, because if she hadn't, I would've just let this story rot for another year… /whistles innocently/

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Dumbledore didn't know what to expect, but he was sure there would be some sort of uproar. Imagine his surprise. With a sigh, he uncrossed his arms to take another long swig of tea as the four men before him began to spaz out again.

_-Teachers? Us?-_ The very thought of teaching kids- wizards of all people- was laughable. In fact, Malik did give a little snort of laughter.

Ryou smiled ruefully. /It would be sort of nice, though. Teaching kids, assigning work, giving out punishments…/

Bakura shook his head. /-What are we going to teach them? How to summon a dragon? We know nothing of these people's magic. What help would we be in teaching?-/

/That is an issue/ Ryou agreed. /We'll have to ask Albus./ "Sir?"

Dumbledore looked up from his shriveled hand (which he had been examining while our heroes had been conversing).

"We were talk- uh, no. I was thinking, what would we teach to the students? We aren't familiar with your branch of magic, and I doubt parents would want their children learning how to summon 'evil monsters' from the 'Shadows.' What could we possibly teach?"

"And I'm not revealing those secrets to some obnoxious little snot-nosed brats," Marik stated stubbornly. (I get the feeling that neither Baku nor Marik likes kids…)

"But kids are the future," Ryou recited.

"Screw the kids."

"Ew, no. I don't know what you do in your free time, but I'm no crazy pedophile…"

Malik and Ryou stared at their respective yamis with wide eyes. "I…see…"

Dumbledore seemed as though his hearing had given way during that small lapse of time in which Marik and Bakura were talking about. He continued without missing a beat. "Yes, I have added that to my list of flaws in my plan, but with it comes a rather elementary solution. Perhaps you could disguise- fake, even- your magic. _Stupefy_, for example, stuns someone into unconsciousness. Perhaps you could say the spell, make the wand movements, but use the shadows to knock your opponent out." Dumbledore stopped to let the information sink in.

Ryou nodded to the elder man- a gesture goading him to continue.

"Of course, this is an advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts class- if I hadn't mentioned that, please excuse me- and would deal with more…practical sessions. As I was explaining earlier, Voldemort has yet again risen to power. The students should be able to protect themselves if their wands were to ever leave their grasps. They have been taught spells and incantations that won't work right without a wand or severe training in wandless magic. They need a sort of 'demonstrative experiment.' With your experience, I'm sure they'll at least gain some speed, judgment, common sense, and other things through your classes."

"You do understand," Ryou said after a moment of silence, "that you're creating yourself a student-comprised army? We teach physical things, such as dodging or planning out strategies while your normal Defense Against…the Dark Arts, right?…professor preaches of spells. It's dangerous to get minors involved in war, Albus. You know as well as we do."

"It wouldn't be the first time an army made up of students was established at Hogwarts…" Dumbledore spoke jovially to himself in a knowing whisper. "But I am not creating an army," he said aloud. "The students will neither be sent to fight nor sent to make meticulous plans of Voldemort's demise. They will be taught the right defense, and when Voldemort strikes, only the stupid, foolish, stubborn, and hard-headed students will dare to retaliate."

Ryou still looked dubious. Malik looked frustrated- at both the situation and the headmaster. Bakura looked all spazzy because he was sifting through Ryou's memories and reliving the story of Voldemort and Potter. Marik looked surprisingly strained, seeing that he was trying to recall a memory that had been locked away a good number of weeks prior.

Something about Voldemort… The name was so familiar… And it reminded him of the nameless Puzzle-holder… There was a connection. Some sort of connection…

Dumbledore was speaking again. "You must understand why this subject is named Defense Against the Dark Arts. Lord Voldemort is on the prowl, eliminating anything in his way, and torturing anyone caught in the middle. Hogwarts has the reputation of a prestigious school of learning and magic- not to mention its infamous reputation to be the safest place in Europe, save Gringotts, of course. We not only want to preserve that, but to strengthen it." The old man sighed, as if knowing he was nowhere near to convincing the warriors into a job.

"What can I do or say to make you trust me?"

Bakura stared at Dumbledore, his scarlet eyes scrutinizing. "You're not telling us the truth. I can tell you're hiding something from us. I want to know _everything_. You have told us of Voldemort and Harry, and all that savior crap, but you haven't told us anything else. I'm sure as hell you didn't get that burnt hand making cookies for your little good two-shoes students."

Dumbledore matched Bakura's gaze, his unnaturally sparkling blue eyes no longer filled with their old patience. "Mr. Bakura," he spoke, resorting to the old habit he used with students: the use of 'Mr./Ms.' before their last name. "What happened to me is of no importance to my story. This injury is nothing but a spell gone awry." The old man disliked lying, but he couldn't risk revealing the one strategy he had against Voldemort to men who were still terribly skeptical and reluctant to take the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers.

Bakura's eyes flashed and his brows twitched. "You're lying. You're _lying_, you useless old man!" the albino snapped harshly, standing abruptly from his chair and banging his fisted hands onto the table.

"Yami!" Ryou chided, pulling on his dark's hair. "You sit down and shut up!"

Bakura growled and glared at Dumbledore icily, but complied with his hikari's order. _I still don't trust you, old man. I'll find out what you're hiding…_

Malik shook his head. "If we teach the students anything practical, wouldn't they grow egotistical? They would believe they were invincible and go out like little blobs of ignorance, as if they were bulletproof and packed with grenades."

Ryou nodded his concurrence and stared Dumbledore in the eye. "I'd hate to decline your most gracious offer," he spoke, carefully choosing his words in the politest way he could muster, "But…"

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

"Am _not_ a little blob of ignorance," Harry thought aloud indignantly, not bothering to listen to the rest of the conversation. He, like the selfless hero he was, had decided to eavesdrop; the loud, abrupt accusation that Dumbledore was a useless old liar had caught his attention and curiosity.

A muffled, British-tinged voice wafted through the door, but it was very quiet; Harry could hardly understand what was being said. He sighed and strained his ears.

There was the faint sound of footsteps approaching him, and Harry only just managed to rip his ear away before the door slid open.

"Ah… I didn't hear anything!" Harry supplied hastily, getting up off his knees. His sheepish grin and guilty way of staring at the ground quickly gave away the lie. "…Okay, well I did. But it wasn't much!"

Dumbledore dismissed his explanation with a nonchalant wave of his uninjured hand. "It's quite all right, Harry, but next time, do try to control your curiosity."

"Yes, sir."

Ryou, the nice, white-haired one, appeared not too long after the Headmaster, smiling politely at them both. "Albus, Harry, let me accompany you to the door."

"Thank you, professor," Harry said as he gathered his things.

Ryou turned around, only to see no one behind him. He blinked and his eyes grew wide with laughter. "Well, you can't call me professor just yet, Harry. We still haven't decided whether or not we want the job."

"Oh." Harry, who was feeling someone bordering embarrassment and stupidity, felt himself flush madly. "Sorry."

Dumbledore's eyes shone in amusement. "Not to worry, Harry. We'll convince them otherwise someday." He sent a smile in Ryou's direction, one that the British-Japanese man reluctantly returned. "Now about that door."

Ryou nodded and smiled naturally, a rather relieved air surrounding his features. "Right this way."

As the three ventured off, Dumbledore turned to Harry and spoke.

"One more stop," he informed him conversationally, "until you're back with the Weasleys, Harry."

Harry nodded. "Okay. Where are we going?"

"To visit an old friend of mine. I plan to offer him the Potions position."

"Potions?" It took a while for the word to sink in. "You mean…the job is open? Did Snape finally give up and leave the school?"

Dumbledore chuckled at the wistfulness in his voice. "No, Harry. It's still 'Professor Snape' to you. I'm the one who's given up. I've given Severus the Defense Against the Dark Arts position."

Harry was silent for a moment – "…" – before exploding: "WHAT?"

Dumbeldore chuckled again.

"But if Sna- I mean, Professor Snape- is the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, why did we need to come here?" Harry questioned.

"What I had wanted Mr. Ryou and his companions to teach was a practical Defense Against the Dark Arts class, one where its students would learn the more physical facets of defense. Sadly, they had refused and now your class are mandatory."

"Now they're mandatory? You mean they were never before?"

"They were in past years, but this year would be different. If Mr. Ryou and his companions _had_ taken the job, then you could have chosen between the two classes."

Harry was horrified. He didn't know what was worse: the fact that Snape was the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, or the fact that he could have been Snape-free, only to have it taken away.

It was a tie.

Ryou, who somehow sensed the horror on Harry's face, laughed good-naturedly and glanced at them shortly. "Don't worry, Harry. I'm sure Snape-san can't be that bad. He must know more about your Dark Arts than us, anyway."

"But Snape is a student-hating git whose only reason in existence to make our lives a living hall!" Harry blurted out in horror. He shut his mouth and felt his eyes widen considerably. Turning his neck to the side and cricking it up, the emerald-eyed boy glanced at Dumbledore.

Said Headmaster was staring up at the ceiling with great interest and twiddling his thumbs, just like that time in Hagrid's cabin when Harry had been badmouthing Rita Skeeter. Harry thought of this as an okay to continue speaking, and so he did.

"He's terribly biased, and is out to get anyone who isn't in his own slimy House. He practically wants me to get expelled because of a grudge he still has over my father a whole bunch of years ago, and he won't wash his greasy hair." Harry had no idea where the last part came from, but he sure meant it.

"Oh dear. Sounds terrible."

There was a click and a noise Harry found familiar. He looked up.

They had reached the door.

"Good luck with Snape-san, Harry." The almost-albino smiled broadly at him, the door wide open for their exiting needs.

"Eh…thanks."

"Good-bye, Ryou. I assume we'll be seeing you up at the Headmaster's table for dinner on September the first?" Dumbledore seemed to have lost his interest in the ceiling.

Ryou's chocolate brown eyes clearly read _'Not bloody likely,'_ but he only smiled again, his eyes closing to create the perfect stereotypical image of a happy Asian. (EEEEEEEE! I love it when he smiles like that. xDDD) "We'll see, Albus." And with that, he kindly ushered them out and closed the door.

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/-Ryou, come into the sitting room for a sec, yeah?-/

/Yami? Eh…okay./

Ryou left the door and meandered through several rooms, into the sitting room, where Malik, Marik, and Bakura all stood, looking strangely somber.

"What's wrong?" Ryou asked warily, cautious of their tamed behavior.

"This." Malik approached Ryou slowly, his vibrant lavender eyes closed. He extended his arm and opened his fisted hand.

In the middle of the Egyptian's bronzed palm sat an eye, its lifeless black center staring straight at Ryou forbiddingly.

All Ryou could do was stare back.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Once Harry had reached the Burrow, he was stuffed with bread and soup and rushed upstairs to Fred and George's room. He thought he would have gladly welcomed sleep, but his bustling mind seemed to ward it away like that one bugger of a knight (Sorry mates, I lost my HP-PoA book and I can't remember his name. xD Sir C...something. xD You know who I'm talking about. /grin/) would to innocent people walking by his portrait. Perhaps his head was too riled up with life-altering information he had learned just an hour or two ago.

For one thing, he had learned that he could have had some rather interesting, young Japanese men as his 'practical' Defense Against the Dark Arts professors. But they didn't want the job, so he was…stuck with Snape (here, he had cringed to himself and Hedwig had hooted comfortingly, trying to console him). Also, during his time sitting in their sitting room, he had received a bundle of 'Duel Monsters' cards that supposedly 'helped stop evil from taking over the world.' You couldn't blame him for being at least a little excited at that.

For another thing, he had also met his new Potions teacher. Horace Slughorn was a generously proportioned, generously aged man who had worked at Hogwarts alongside Dumbledore at one point in the past. He also seemed to have a fetish for 'collecting' bright young witches and wizards, teaching them, setting up connections for them when they got older, and then receiving things from them when they succeeded in life. He may or may not have had a thing for his mother, but Harry was still wary on that subject.

Of course, the large man (who was an armchair the first time Harry laid sight upon him) had tried to wheedle his way out of the job, for fear of being targeted by Voldemort and his Death Eaters, but Harry – although he didn't quite know how – had managed to cajole him into taking the position.

So Harry's head buzzed as he lay in bed. He closed his eyes and tried to stop thinking about his day, but this proved to be futile when his eyelids decided to flutter back up on their own accord. He sighed, not feeling the nimble fingers of fatigue try to snatch him into its grasp. He knew he shouldn't try to force sleep onto himself; it had never worked before.

So what to do in the meantime?

He grinned and nearly laughed out loud. The Puzzle, of course! He quietly slipped out of bed, unbolted the lock to his trunk, and pulled out the golden Puzzle box. It seemed to glow with an ethereal light in the darkness of the twins' room as he brought it back with him to the warm sheets of his bed. Pulling the treasure out by means of the silver chain connected to the top/innermost piece, he emptied out the rest of the stray pieces onto the comforter. They tumbled out, clinking cheerfully against each other on their way down, but making no noise once they hit the eiderdown.

Harry held the hoary chain up to his eyes, taking in the structure of what he had already put together. The square part of the Puzzle, the part that made up the base of the pyramid (although it was on top), was already completed, and all that was left was the bottom half, the pointy half. He counted the stray, unconnected pieces and was delighted to see that he was already halfway done; just thirty-two more pieces until he reached his goal: the completion of the Puzzle. **_(1)_**

Giddy with excitement, Harry allowed an unguarded smile to curl on his lips. He studied the inside of the Puzzle and began to shuffle through the pieces he had left, searching for that one piece that would fit into the groove he had just looked at. Where was it—? Ah.

Five successfully placed pieces and hundreds of failed attempts later, Harry finally felt his lids begin to droop in protest to his lack of falling asleep. He blearily packed up the tiny pieces of gold into their box and deposited it back into his trunk, patting Hedwig lightly on the head on his way back to bed. "Night Hedwig," he whispered. The moment his head hit the pillow, he was pulled into a blissfully peaceful slumber.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

**_1._** I know I said in the 5th or something chapter that Harry aligned the Puzzle pieces in rows and columns of six. But I've realized that thirty-six pieces isn't that much, so I'm changing it to sixty-four pieces. Eight times eight equals sixty-four, and sixty-four over 2 equals thirty-two, and because half of the Puzzle is completed, that means thirty-two pieces are left.

I am such a biyatch. /sigh/ I took way too long on this chapter, and it still SUCKED. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. /breath/ Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. /sniffle/ Wah. X.x I'm sooooooooo sorry. …Again. /sob/ I hope you'll forgive me and—

Review. xD Heh…heh…

/big empty spot/ Arnold died. /giant grin/ The aliens ate him right after they probed all the HnM ideas from my mind. :O Oh dear. XD Fear not, for his spirit shall always be with us---- haunting you and following you around until you review the latest installment of: _Hikari no Mahoutsukai!_

9/4/06: I've reuploaded this chapter because the story didn't seem to be updating. O Oh dear. xD The first attempt was yesterday, on the third.


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